Libertas
by Aeternus.Flamma
Summary: Takes place immediately after the Avengers. Loki is sentenced to a stay in the prison realm, Tartaros, and finds that he doesn't much like having his freedom taken from him. Still, he remains ever calculating.
1. Chapter 1

_Libertas_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing._

_Additional Notes(1): I have only seen the movies and read a few comics. I am receiving information of substance from my resident expert, though he is not Beta reading for me (nor does he actually know I am writing this!) Please bare with me if my story breaks one or all of the existing universes._

_000  
_

_**Prologue **_

Well this was awful.

Loki was paraded around Asgard like some sort of circus animal or war trophy (though he supposed he _was_ the reward for being defeated on Earth…) His arms were completely bound in a freeze resistant material and his mouth was covered by an absurd muzzle. While no one could see his full expression, his eyes gave away the scowl he was wearing.

Even while being considered insanely dangerous, with a full guard protecting the spectators from so much as a look from him, Loki still stood (literally) in his brother's shadow.

As they approached the landing where Odin King stood, he involuntarily slumped and slowed his shuffling. Thor grabbed hold of his arm roughly, pulling him to stand before the old man. There was a moment of silence before Odin finally spoke.

"Loki Laufey-Son," he said, immediately causing a stab of pain to shoot through the prisoner's surprisingly existent heart for Odin's apparent disownment of him, "with your first disobedient incident, I was prepared to forgive you. I understood your underlying pain and the reasoning, however distasteful, behind your actions. When you fell into the abyss, I mourned the loss of my son. You have made it very apparent that we were right to do so, as the Asgardian Prince Loki is now dead, leaving nothing but cold shell of man that had been. In addition to spurring us into tension with a world with whom we have no quarrel, you have made us the enemies of the Chitauri and their allies.

"In order to maintain some semblance of peace, other realms have asked for your imprisonment and I have agreed. You will serve an indefinite sentence. Your release is conditional and will be determined by a council of other-realm leaders, so long as peace remains. Thor, the Warriors Three, Lady Sif—" Loki was surrounded by four of his former friends, "—you will take this prisoner to Tartaros." Odin raised his metallic staff and slammed it to the ground, a thunderous boom resonating throughout the Hall.

Ugh, Tartaros. _That_ was to be expected, he supposed.

Loki was rushed from the Hall and to a distant bridge, one that was not opened nor closed from Asgard, but from the prison realm itself. His guards were silent and cautious as they forced him up the long steps to the hardly used circle. They had only paused for a moment before they were sucked from one world to the next.

It was an uncomfortable place to be. Tartaros was a realm under the control of none, but the protection of all. Only the very worst criminals were sentenced there, and very few ever left. For anyone to be sent as a prisoner, it had to be decided upon by a group made up of the leaders from numerous worlds. It took for many realms to be threatened before Tartaros was considered.

And here he was.

He supposed he should have been proud of himself, in a twisted sort of way.

Even Thor compared to the guards of Tartaros. They were towering, shapeless creatures. Or rather, many shaped creatures. If one were to stare long enough, they would see that the beings rapidly shifted through many different forms—armored men and women who had likely died combating evil and who chose to continuing battling in their afterlives. They unnerved Loki, who had always considered himself to be un-threaten-able.

"Who is charged with this prisoner?" One of the Tartarians glided forward and said in a very non-human tone.

"I, Thor Odin-Son, am charged with this criminal, Loki Laufey-Son, formerly of Asgard," said the prince humbly, fully aware of his lack of authority in the dark realm.

"Thor Odin-Son, do you swear by your life and your realm that this is the Tartaros bound prisoner, Loki Laufey-Son?" Another Tartarian came forward, adding his(its?) presence to the growing pit in Loki's stomach.

For a moment, it seemed as if Thor was unsure of how to answer. Loki supposed he couldn't blame his one time brother. He had many times tricked Thor into believing he was somewhere he was not, or sometimes that he was someone he was not, and the blonde was likely remembering all of those times. Still, Thor answered, "yes, I swear by my name and my realm that his is the prisoner Loki Laufey-Son."

"Then from this moment forward, we take the prisoner, who will be placed in imprisonment until a time which the council declares him free." The two Tartarians moved forward, causing the Asgardians to quickly back step to stay away from the formless masses, and created a sort of bubble around Loki.

The beings did not need to turn around. They simply moved back in the direction they had come from taking Loki with them. At first, he thought to struggle, but he found his legs were moving on their own accord. He had no control over his own body. He tried to open his mouth and speak through the muzzle, but he found his mouth would not move. Loki was forced to stare straight ahead and walk in whatever direction the Tartarians chose to take him.

He couldn't help but think, _"this must be how those humans felt once I took their freedom." _ He did not like that thought.

Loki could not turn his head from side to side, but he still managed to catch a few glimpses.

There were many men and women, as well as some other… things… Some were bound. Many simply stood or sat. Cells were minimal, bare. Some people seemed as if they might have been screaming, but he couldn't hear them.

It annoyed him that he couldn't look upwards. He wanted desperately to see how high up the levels of cells went, but he simply could not. How frustrating it was to not have free will! He felt like a lowly human!

His walk seemed endless. He quickly grew bored of his momentary glimpses of inmates and his legs were tired from moving with an odd heaviness, but he continued on nonetheless. Finally, the Tartarians halted him in front of a seemingly glass cell. The doors opened on their own, and his body walked him in. Loki's arms raised themselves, and the beings took his cuffs, then his muzzle (to his relief,) but his bubble did not yet burst.

When the doors securely shut, the Tartarians' bubble-field disappeared and he felt 'freedom' rush back into his extremities as he fell to the floor due to muscle weakness. Loki took a moment to observe his surroundings while he recovered on his knees. His floor was white, as was his ceiling, but the other four walls were clear. The first thing he noticed was that his room had only three things: a small bed that would barely fit his 6'2" frame, a white table, and a white chair. He did not have a toilet area as some of the other cells, which he surmised was because he technically did not need food due to his 'immortality.' Nor did he have a sink or mirror. Nothing he could freeze if chose to use his frost giant heritage.

"Aren't you a pretty one," a voice mocked from his right, immediately pulling Loki from his thoughts. Originally, he had assumed that the cells were soundproof, but that was apparently not the case, much to his annoyance. When he looked over, he had to fight to avoid showing his disgust. A balding man in a black prison uniform (which Loki had not yet received,) with some sort of boils or bumps on his neck stood smirking at the God of Mischief.

Loki looked away and grimaced. He was, for the first time in his life, starting to second guess himself. He supposed maybe he should've just the stupid humans alone.

Why didn't he just live his life in Asgard as a wealthy, powerful, attractive prince with everything handed to him on a silver platter?

"Because _he_ would always get the gold one, that's why," Loki muttered to himself in spite. With a _'humph,'_ he shifted to sit cross legged with his arms across his chest and a frown plastered to his pale face.

000

_Additional Notes(2): as I've said, I've only really seen the movies. However, I feel that most people who read this won't find much of an issue with that fact. I haven't done fanfic work for a while, so, hopefully I stay motivated. I will probably get a few chapters out, but if no one is reading, my desire to work on it will drop! So please, let me know what you think!_

_I will be honest with one thing though—I do not proof read, so there is likely grammatical/spelling errors that will not be corrected. I hope that won't bother you too much! _

_I am not sure where this is going. I simply love the character of Loki, and I adore Tom Hiddleston. So thus I write! My original ideas were scrapped as I was writing the prologue, because, well, I realized that they made absolutely no sense and were just not fully thought out. Ah well, I will post again soon nonetheless._

_A_F_


	2. Chapter 2

_Libertas_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing._

_Additional Notes(1): I have only seen the movies and read a few comics. I am receiving information of substance from my resident expert, though he is not Beta reading for me (nor does he actually know I am writing this!) Please bare with me if my story breaks one or all of the existing universes._

000

A series of events is an interesting thing. Sometimes, even the most brilliant, conniving, and mischievous cannot foresee the outcome of certain actions. It was a hard fact for Loki to accept. For a very long time, he had truly believed that he was _the_ Super Villain of Super Villains. When he fell from grace, that is to say, Asgard, he had realized that he had never been at Super Villain level. When the Earth team had defeated him, those so called 'Avengers,' as Tony Stark said they called themselves, Loki found that he was hardly a villain at all. He was a rival. He was Thor's foil.

And so, he didn't actually _belong_ in realm filled with _real_ villains.

But all of that came to him before he had even fully reached the world of Tartaros. Since it was in his benefit, then he decided that perhaps rivalry suited him more than villainy.

However, Loki's second observation that came to him while actually on/in prison-planet was that there seemed to be no time in Tartaros. Well, no, that wasn't true. _Time _existed in all places, just not always in the same form. There was no way for him to distinguish day from night whilst in his cell. Even when he was escorted out to attend the showers, there wasn't any indication of time.

He shuddered as he recalled the memory of his first shower adventure. While a miserable experience, it is the necessary starting point to explain how he got from point A: his prison cell, to point B: … his prison cell.

All in all, Loki came to the conclusion that prison was truly a horrible place.

_Not long after his arrival…_

_The ambiguous Tartarians returned to his cell and opened the doors. Loki sat silently on his bed, refusing to comply with them, and closely examined the unlocking process. He didn't catch anything useful on that visit, but he was sure he would have plenty of future chances to observe. _

"_Prisoner 951220, approach the door," said one of the Tartarians. Loki continued to sit, staring intently at the beings instead. The same one who spoke, the one on the right, repeated, "prisoner 951220, approach the door."_

"_You better do it, Tails, these boys don't play nice when you disobey them." It was the prisoner in the cell next to Loki's (also on the right. The one to the left of his bed was empty, as of yet.) His name was Bylli, and he was very talkative. He had also started calling Loki 'Tails,' though he had no idea why. Loki chose to ignore the ugly humanoid every time Bylli tried to start a conversation._

_Still, Loki did not move from his seat on his uncomfortable bed. _

_The Tartarian who had not spoken raised its arm. The God noticed how his over eager cell buddy immediately backed away from the wall that connected their living quarters. The Tartarian's body lit up like a Yule tree and Loki could feel the energy pick up in the room. The hair on his arms stood on end and he was pulled forward. His body hit the floor and he was quickly dragged by an invisible force to the door edge. Though he initially stopped at the door, it was if someone stood behind him and shoved, not pulled, him forward and out the doorway. _

_A bubble once again formed around him, and he felt his free will vanish for a second, terrifying time. _

_Bylli shook his head and walked to the door of his own cell, which opened when two more Tartarians seemingly morphed from the hallway wall, and stepped out to be incased on his own bubble. _

_As much as he internally struggled, Loki's body would not respond. _

_He could hear footsteps from behind him. Since the Tartarians did not actually walk or even have feet, he assumed that someone further down his hallway was also being led out. He had heard Bylli mention something about the smell of soap, so Loki could only assume that they were heading to the showers. _

_How horrible, (though he did desperately want a nice warm shower, he didn't care to do it in prison.)_

_They went a different way than the path they had taken when he was first escorted to his cell. While pretty much all of the hallways seemed to look identical, with the exception of the colorful array of inmates, of course, Loki had memorized the route from the entrance. He did it 'purely' out of 'boredom.'_

_Soon, he was in a line of male-ish creatures, all of whom were in their own little bubbles. _

_He started trying to figure out how many Tartarians were acting as guards. 951220. If numbers were assigned consecutively, that would make him the 951,220__th__ person to enter. Assuming all of those prisoners were still alive, and two guards to each prisoner… that meant 1,902,440 Tartarians, approximately. But had inmates been released? Had some died? Were there more Tartarians serving as entities besides guards? Were there rankings to the guard? _

_It was only his second—er, third?—no, fourth? day as a prisoner. He couldn't expect himself to gather all of the information at once._

_The line started to move into a doorway, unlike the cells, Tartarians did follow. Loki's bubble disappeared as he reached the entrance, but the Tartarians towered over him menacingly, causing him to walk forward of his own free will while the beings ultimately lined up against the wall._

_The inmates did not hesitate to start stripping. Black uniforms were tossed into large bags, presumably for laundry. The variety of creatures in the room surprised him to a certain extent, but Loki decided that it was best not to pay too close attention, lest he find himself in trouble he certainly did not want. _

_The 'men,' once entirely nude, walked ahead, passed by the bags, and to numerous shower facets that were already on and running with what he hoped was water. It was possible that some sort of soapy substance was already mixed into the liquid, as the room had a distinct smell of 'clean.'_

"_Prisoner 951220," came a booming voice from somewhere above him. Loki looked up, realizing that he was being addressed, but could not find the speaker. "Undress and utilize the shower time you have been given." Suddenly, Loki became acutely aware of the number of eyes on him._

_He couldn't help but think that Thor might have been the better alternative after all._

_Loki clenched his jaw and finally gave in, but only after he heard a voice from somewhere in the mass saying, "if you don't undress, we'll do it for you. Not ruining our shower time because you're shy." There was a distinct sneer on the word 'shy.'_

_He groaned and started removing his heavy leather jacket and hardened armor. When he was only in his green tunic and trousers he felt bare enough, but without those? It was humiliating. _

"_You'd think he thinks he's royalty, eh?" Another voice jabbed, but he didn't spare the man a thought as he walked as confidently as he could muster to one of the open faucets. _

"_Maybe he is royalty," another voice said causally, "he looks like he's got a royal ass!" And then there was laughing all around. Silently fuming, Loki blocked them out as much as he felt comfortable doing. It would be foolish to ignore them completely. He could be caught off guard, and he couldn't have that…_

_Loki took just a moment to test his luck with the water. While facing the wall, he cupped his hands and caught a small amount. Concentrating, he tried to freeze the small amount he held. For a brief moment, it looked as if it would become frozen, but ultimately, it would not become more than a slush. "Whatever they've mixed with it," he muttered to himself, staring at half-liquid in his hands. He was, for only a moment, lost in his thoughts. _

_In that one moment, someone came up behind him (to do Odin knows what.) He placed a hand on Loki's shoulder, "what're you doing—" _

_Feeling a real moment of panic, Loki dropped the slush, his heart pounding, and hissed, "__**don't touch me**_**.**_" The room fell completely silent, as everyone who had not previously been staring at him watched him intently. He wasn't entirely sure why they all just stared until he caught a glimpse of his arm. _

_He was blue._

"_Oh, hell," Loki muttered to himself as the Tartarians moved into the wet, naked mass of men, creating bubbles for everyone. When his escorts reached him, however, he did not get a bubble. Unlike all of the others, these two were completely lit up, with strange symbols appearing on their supposed bodies. Together, they reached out one arm and touched his head._

When Loki woke up, he was still naked, which led him to his first observation.

When the Tartarians touched you, you blacked out. While he found the information to be useful, he really would have preferred that they had let him dress before causing him to be rendered unconscious. He shuddered to think about how he had reached his cell, since he certainly hadn't walked.

Again, dealing with his brother seemed more and more appealing.

After Loki had dressed, he returned to his bed to sit. Sighing, he put his head into his hands, slightly massaging his temple. He started going over the information he had gathered when an odd sensation hit him—it was the feeling of being watched. His head shot up and he looked to his left. Where a previously empty cell had been, there was a being inside.

He could only see the thing's head, since the wall wasn't entirely transparent but had a window. Its face was covered completely, save for its eyes. He didn't know how long the brown eyes had been watching him, but they surely saw his humiliating entrance.

Loki stood, walked to the window and saw that the creature was in an entirely black uniform. Even its hands and feet, which were chained to the seat it sat in. The brown eyes unnerved him enough to cause him to turn around and go to the window to the right of his bed. On the bed in the next room was a tall, broad shouldered man, with grey-almost black skin and white markings. The man had white eyes that looked back at Loki in annoyance.

His third observation was made for the day.

When the Tartarians saw you as dangerous, they kept you away from the 'regular' prisoners (as if there _were_ regular prisoners in that realm.) When Loki walked to his door, he touched the wall for only a brief moment. It scalded his hand and he stumbled backwards. He was in an anti-Frost Giant room: also known as Point B.

Well, it was a good thing they hadn't seen his other tricks, he thought to himself as he grimaced and looked out through the clear panel on the door.

He could see the prison he had been in just hours earlier in the distance.

000

_Additional Notes(2): I hope this wasn't too scattered. I could see it in my head (vividly =P) but I'm not sure if the words made it out. I know this probably moved rather fast, but I hoped I could show Loki's lack of control. I mean, let's face it, he __**is**__ kind of a control freak. In prison, his silver tongue and mischief won't get him very far, which is something he wouldn't be used to, I'm assuming. _

_Well anyhow, let me know what you think! I'm very interested in hearing what people think. I can see that people are viewing the story! I know you're out there! Let me know that you're hearing me!_

_Oh, one more thing—I had a horrible moment where I nearly wrote 'spicket.' Do any of you even know what a spicket is? Probably not. I am mortified that I even contemplated writing that. I went to college. I have a degree. Why won't my mind forget words like 'spicket' or 'crick' or 'gumband'? _


	3. Chapter 3

_Libertas_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing._

_Additional Notes(1): I have only seen the movies and read a few comics. I am receiving information of substance from my resident expert, though he is not Beta reading for me (nor does he actually know I am writing this!) Please bare with me if my story breaks one or all of the existing universes._

000

His clothes were very uncomfortable. And very… plain.

Even his Earthling clothes were nicer than the other realm uniform he wore now. It bothered him in the shoulder area. It felt too tight. He wished he had a size larger, but then the sleeves wouldn't fit correctly. His pants, on the other hand, were quite long. He was already over six feet tall. He wondered how many other beings in the prison were even taller than himself.

It had been some time since he was relocated. It frustrated him to no end though that he couldn't tell how _much_ time had passed.

"Why am I here," he muttered to himself and ran his hands through his dark hair. It wasn't a question. It was really a statement.

"Because you did something societal realms deemed wrong," answered the man in the cell next to him. Loki looked over with an annoyed expression. Was the man being sarcastic or did he really think he answered Loki's question?

"Yes, I get _that_," he said anyhow, "but why am I _here, _in this cell. Why am I not in my _former_ cell?"

The man stood, presumably from sitting in his bed, to stand at the window he shared with Loki. "They put people they find threatening in this area. I do not know you, nor do I know what you did to get sentenced to Tartanos, but I can venture a guess as to why you worried them."

"Do share," Loki said halfheartedly and put his chin into his hand.

"You're a frost giant."

"What gave it away? My naked blue body?"

His cell mate cocked his head to the side and looked at Loki with some sort of curiosity. "You're very… small… for a frost giant." Loki's mouth became very thin lipped as he glared at the man in the window. "They did not know you were a frost giant."

"I was announced as Laufey-Son. How could they _not_ know I was a frost giant?"

For a moment, Loki considered simply laying down and ignoring the man in the next cell, but it dawned on him—he hadn't actually spoken to anyone since he arrived. While he wasn't the most social of people, would he stay not be more bearable if he had someone with whom he could converse(manipulate)?

"Names do not mean anything to the Tartarians. We are but numbers to them. They are not very intelligent beings. They are made up from the dead. They know nothing other than their primary job: guard. You were not a threat until you were _visibly_ threatening. They do not like the elements." Loki did not answer after the man spoke, his mind had already started racing with the many questions he had about this current realm. The man stepped away from his window and lay down on his bed. "Laufey-Son," he said, "I am Vestrael."

"Pleasure," the god responded dryly, "but do not call me Laufey-Son. I am Loki."

He received a grunt in response.

""

One advantage to the heightened sense of danger was that Loki showered with less people. It was himself, Vestrael, and two other men, all of whom were spread out across the faucets. The soap smell was much stronger, however, leading Loki to believe that perhaps it wasn't water at all that he was dousing himself in. He thought about tasting it, but decided that it wasn't a risk he was willing to take, yet.

After their second shower session, which had gone smoothly, with no incidents or even talking, Loki slowly paced in his cell. His hand was in a slight fist with his thumb and forefinger to his mouth. "Vastrael," he said with a sigh, "who is the person in the cell next to me?"

"Me," Vastrael grunted from out of sight.

"No," Loki said with a certain dry tone he had found he used a lot when speaking with Vastrael, "on the other side of me."

Vastrael muttered something in a language Loki could not understand before finally saying, "you should have said that first. I do not know. They were brought to this block after I was, but I heard that they might have been held elsewhere for some time. They likely did something the Tartarians found to be very bad, since I have not seen many other prisoners kept in similar conditions as that person."

"Do you have elemental powers?"

Vestrael did not answer, he simply grunted.

"Is it possible that this person has elemental powers?"

Another grunt.

"I suppose it's quite possible. It would be illogical to say it is not possible, or even unlikely," Loki whispered, mostly to himself, before turning and facing the bound person. "What is your story, I wonder? Can you even hear me in there?" He stared through the window with only a small interest, at least, until the person's head turned and stared right back at him. "Yes, I think you can…"

Finally, from the other window, Vestrael spoke up. "You talk too much."

Loki turned and looked in the other cell, remaining silent for only a few moments before _continuing_ to speak. "Vastrael," he said, his mouth momentarily turning upwards in a smirk, "why are you here?" Unsurprisingly, the other male remained quiet, and Loki believed that he wouldn't answer. He was pleasantly shocked when his cellmate did actually speak.

"I killed a man," Vastrael grunted from his spot against their connecting wall. Loki sat down on the backwards chair, resting his arms on the chair top.

"You killed a man? I killed over 80 people in two days and they didn't put me in this section at first."

The charcoal colored man paused for a moment before responding. "He was a religious leader. Considered a saint in some realms. A god in others. He was a deceiver."

Loki rolled his eyes. _He_ was a deceiver, if not _the_ deceiver. His 'cellmate' seemed to be nothing more than one of the righteous masses. "Religions are based upon deceit and brainwashing."

"Brainwashing? We do not have that term in my language. I think it is fitting. He had some way of controlling political leaders until he had everyone under his command. He raped my sister then had her stoned for being a whore. So I killed him."

"Seems legitimate," Loki said casually, staring intently at the window sill. It was a different material than the walls.

"Nothing starts a war like religion."

"_That_ I agree with." He leaned forward and compared the edges where the sill and wall connected. They were two distinct pieces, possibly connected within the wall. Loki decided that he would rather not risk burning himself again if he didn't have to. The redness on his hand still burned.

Loki abruptly stood up again and slid his chair forward against the wall. He pulled it away and felt the chair. It was hot—well, actually, it was warm. The heat had successfully been conducted through the chair's material. Once it cooled, he placed it against the window. Cool. Tenatively, he reached a slim finger out against the transparent material. He was not burned. With a satisfied smirk, he tested the chair against the window sill. It also did not conduct. To be sure, he touched it. Nothing.

Vastrael finally stood and looked down at their joined window sill then up at Loki. "What are you doing?" He did not look amused by all of the tapping going on against his window. The God of Mischief looked up. His icy blue eyes met the white ones staring back at him. There were a few moments of silent before Loki finally shrugged and raised a brow.

"Nothing."

000

"My lord," Fandral said as he kneeled before the aged king, "something is happening to the Bi-Frost. A light appeared early this morning. It disappeared at first, so we did not see reason for ceoncern. However, the light has reappeared with increasing intensity a number of times now, even when no one is working on the repair. It is starting to alarm the men."

"The Bi-Frost is inoperative," Odin replied in a somewhat thoughtful tone, "it should not be reacting."

Lady Sif glanced at the blonde to her side, and then looked to the king. "With all due respect, your highness, you were able to send Thor through to Earty _twice._ Perhaps he is currently trying to fix the portal from his end. Or… or perhaps it's something worse."

"I would know if it were my son. While he does have many resources at his disposal, he does not have the Tesseract. They are unable to reach the level of cosmic energy needed to attempt the Bi-Frost without a conductor." Odin turned and started to pace about his platform, letting his mind wander to the numerous horrible possibilities they could face. "I will speak to Heimdall. He may be able to provide us further insight. Until we can determine the threat level, remove the men from the bridge. I think it prudent to assume danger until we are sure no one will be injured."

The Asgardian king waved off his champion warriors. The four bowed their heads once more and stood, leaving the hall immediately.

The king appeared to most of his subjects as calm, but those closest to the royal family knew that it was a façade. Odin had insisted that Thor return to Earth to help rebuild almost as soon as he returned from escorting Loki to Tartanos.

Thor had hoped to stay for a short period to console his mother, who was an emotional mess (she had been a mess when Loki 'died' but it had become much worse since Loki's departure.) Much to the dismay of a great many people, Odin asserted his power as a king, and Thor was sent to earth.

Though he wouldn't admit it, Thor knew that he was not the same man as he was when he left to retrieve Loki. He had been so relieved, even joyful, to know that his brother was alive. It pained him to see the monster Loki had become on Earth. It left him slightly hollow to know that Loki was likely locked up for the rest of their very long lives, all become Loki felt the need to try to stand out against Thor.

He had never realized what a lonely, unsatisfying life Loki had been living.

But now, Thor was again away from Asgard, leaving the Warrior Three and the Lady Sif to deal with any possibly threats. Even worse, he hadn't had the slightest clue as to the danger that would soon befall his home.

000

_Additional Notes(2): Annnndddd I have a plot started! Things happened to fall into place very nicely. I bounced some ideas off of my friends, and it should suffice as a nice fanfic plot. Some things tie into the cannon story line, just in very different ways. I hope you all enjoy!_

_PS, I plan on playing up Loki's inferiority complex quite a bit._


	4. Chapter 4

_Libertas_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing._

_Additional Notes(1): I have only seen the movies and read a few comics. I am receiving information of substance from my resident expert, though he is not Beta reading for me (nor does he actually know I am writing this!) Please bare with me if my story breaks one or all of the existing universes._

000

"Oh look, Natalie—Natasha, whatever—sent us more post cards." Tony Stark's partner sat on his lap and flipped through the cards in her hands. Every few weeks, Natasha and Clint would send back a package of blank postcards. They couldn't really be sure why they were blank, but the group whom remained in New York supposed it was just because the two other 'Avengers' didn't actually have much to say. The group wasn't really all that close.

"Palermo, Florence, Ljubljana, Budapest, Vienna… You know, we _could_ be doing the same thing," Stark said and kissed her shoulder. "Let's just take off tonight. How about China? Bejing? I could go for some fresh sushi."

"Sushi's Japanese."

"Right, I knew that. But they probably have sushi there too." He tried to hold on to her as she stood, but she pried his fingers away and dropped the postcards on the overly cluttered desk. "Wait, no, no—where're you going? Pepper, come baaa_ck_."

"I only came up here to show you the post cards. I have a conference call with Poland in fifteen minutes. I need to get back to my office," Pepper said and picked up a bound folder off of the edge of Stark's desk.

While remaining fully seated in his wheelie chair, he rolled after her at an awkward pace. "You can call from here. Look, I can even pull up the number for you." Tony threw up his hand and holographic touch screen appeared before him.

"This deal is important. If you start talking in the background, Stark Industries is out of the running for the contract bid." She hit his hand away from her skirt, which he had grabbed in an attempt to keep her in his office. "You have too much work anyhow. You should take the post cards to Bruce. He's been holding on to the others. Even rescued some from your trash bin."

"Yeah, I know, I keep throwing them away, just to make him pull them out. It's an experiment."

"You're unbelievable," Pepper muttered and pushed the down button on the elevator, "just stop complaining about the insurance. It's not that their worried about Bruce losing control, they're worried about you driving him insane."

000

Stark was bobbing his head to the music in his elevator as he rushed on down to the Research and Development levels of stArk Tower. There was no dull elevator music allowed in his building. Instead, it was all classic rock. His preference was for AC/DC. It was a constant battle with Pepper, who would change back the settings to some generic instrumental music every chance she had. She, apparently, thought it was unprofessional .

Like he cared about professionalism.

He employed the _Hulk_, for God's sake.

Speaking of the rage monster…

"Aren't you looking positively _green_ today?" Stark walked into the R&D lab that Banner frequented and hopped up onto an empty countertop.

"Very funny," Banner replied evenly from his spot over a microscope.

"No, really. Your shirt is very green. Emerald? It's a very nice jewel tone. Compliments your… Well no. It's horrible. Greens just not your color. Maybe red? Or purple?" Tony watched as his employee's shoulders slumped and he cracked his neck.

"What do you want, Stark?"

"What do I want? It's _my_ lab. I want to see what's going on in it."

Bruce turned around and toyed with a cuff at his wrist. It looked like a high tech watch. "Lots of nothing. I haven't changed my mind on the tesseract work… _but_ I have kept scanners running for any changes in Gamma radiation. What do you have there?" He pointed at the postcards in Tony's hand.

"Oh, what, nothing," Stark said casually, "Pepper just passed them off to me on my way down. More crap cluttering up my pristine building." He dropped them into the trashcan to his side, earning himself a visible twitch from the other scientist. "Did you find something?"

Tapping a pen against his palm, Banner glanced off to a touch screen map near the lab window. "Take a look."

Stark hopped off the countertop and walked over to the map. He zoomed in on some marks that were clearly pinpointed for a reason. "These are all areas where Blondie appeared. Oh, look, and those are areas were his brother came through."

"No," Bruce said and went to the trashcan to pull out the postcards. "Those are areas where portals have been opened, either from Earth or to Earth. There is residual Gamma radiation in those areas. No big deal. I suppose that's to be expected, what with so much concentrated energy and all. Lately, I've noticed slight jumps. The weird thing is though, is that it's only in areas where Thor entered. There are no spikes in his exiting areas or any areas that Loki was involved with."

"Loki came in through a different manner though, didn't he? Blondie did say that they were working on fixing their bridge. Couldn't it be a side effect from that?" Tony scrolled through the screen, looking at the different points. Red for Thor, Green for Loki, and a star for areas with recent activity.

"Yes, but something just seems off. The energy signatures have spiked in 48 hour intervals, starting with New Mexico, where he touched down originally, and then each location since. I can't be sure what it could mean." Banner put the postcards on the counter and looked over each card rather thoroughly. When he finished, he walked towards the back of the lab, to a large bulletin board, and tacked each card up.

"Have you tried calling Blondie to see if he knows anything about it?" Stark asked as he followed after. He did find it interesting that the two areas that had the highest concentration of energy (the S.H.I.E.L.D. base and the New York skyline) were not exhibiting energy fluctuation.

"I tried to call Jane Foster's cell phone, but it seems to be turned off—"

"So turn it on—

"—which seems to be understandable, since, you know, she requested time with Thor and all," Bruce finished in a slightly aggravated tone. He started, once again, playing with the cuff on his wrist.

Tony shrugged and flicked his hand, pulling up another holographic computer, similar to the one in his office. "JARVIS, call Jane Foster."

"_Shall I remotely turn on her phone?" _The computerized voice came over the speakers, causing Banner to roll his eyes and walk back to the microscope he had originally been standing at.

"Do you really have to ask?"

"_Pardon me, sir. I am now activating her phone controls… Her phone is now on. I am dialing. As a side note, I cannot keep her on the line, should she choose to hang up or throw her phone out of the nearest window."_

Tony smirked and said, "she's a scientist, she needs her phone. She won't toss it." He barely heard Bruce mutter, _'Thor might,'_ from his corner. After a few moments of ringing, a female voice finally came on the line.

"Mr. Stark?" A confused Jane Foster said, "how did you get my number? S.H.I.E.L.D. promised they wouldn't give it out."

"They didn't. Now, if you could, please hand the phone off to the Thor and—"

"_Stark? I do not want to be bothered! It was part of my agreement that I would have what you call a 'vacation!' I would like to enjoy my pleasurable female company __without __having you in harassing me!" _Tony could tell that Thor was not actually holding the phone to his mouth, but instead shouting from somewhere close to Jane. She likely had the phone on speaker.

Next came, "no, no, Thor, don't touch my phone! This is my second replacement! Thor! Don't throw it out the—"

There was a 'plop' and then the phone fizzled out.

"Well, that wasn't very insightful. Why did you even suggest calling them in the first place?" Tony said to Bruce before heading back to the elevator. Bruce muttered to himself again and waved, but didn't bother turning around.

Since the battle of New York, things had been an uncomfortable mix between interesting and awkward. Bruce Banner became a Stark employee, working in primarily Stark tower. Between the two scientists, they had developed a… serum. It wasn't a cure, not a deterrent. Banner wore a special cuff that helped to 'contain' the Other Guy. It monitored his heart rate, and when it started to increase rapidly, it shot a relaxant into his bloodstream. While it sufficed for the moment, it would not work in the long run, since his body became resistant to the low/weaker doses. It served its purpose though—to allow Bruce to work within stArk Tower without as much risk of a meltdown.

Clint and Natasha took off right after Thor left with Loki. No one was really sure _where_ they'd go, but they went anyhow, sending back only their mysterious post cards.

Steve remained in New York. He occasionally stopped by the tower, but usually he steered clear of Stark when he could. Though he wouldn't outright admit it to the rest of the group, Steve had taken up art in his free time. When he wasn't working out, he enjoyed sitting in Central Park with a sketch pad. Of course, Tony already knew. He had checked up on Steve's credit card bill and found the continued charges at art stores intriguing.

Thor returned to earth just a few weeks after his departure. When he did, he convinced S.H.I.E.L.D. to track down Jane for him. They complied (it was hard to refuse a demi-god.) She met him in New York, and the two had gone to Canada, first stopping at the observatory Jane had been working at. They were both due back in about a week's time, though it hadn't been decided if she would be staying or not. Darcy was still out west at another research facility that Jane was supposed to be starting work at as well.

Erik Selvig was on a nice, long, peaceful sabbatical.

Fury had _not_ been in touch with anyone besides Steve Rogers—S.H.I.E.D. paid for all of the Captain's expenses. He had not called upon any of the Avengers for any new missions, though he passed on word to Banner that certain interested parties still wanted him to work on the tesseract. When Banner turned it down, Fury did not press the matter.

No one needed to say it, but they all knew that they would have to come back together at some point. They didn't know when, or even why, but they knew it would happen. Until then, they all tried to enjoy their brief break, Loki-free.

000

_Additional Notes(2):_ _originally, I thought that this would be a Loki story. While yes, it still is, I have decided that I need to bring in the other characters as well, in addition to other characters I never would have contemplated using. I hope that this will not deter you as readers! _

_I am very open to suggestions. I have a loose plot, but it isn't set in stone. I have many dastardly ideas in store for our poor, darling Loki. _

_Also, I apologize for so much dialogue and not much action. I think something that made me love the movie so much was the interactions. I want to try to replicate the tone as much as possible. Hopefully that's okay with everyone!_

_Thank you everyone for your kind reviews! It makes me want to keep writing!_

_A_F_


	5. Chapter 5

_Libertas_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing._

_Additional Notes(1): I have only seen the movies and read a few comics. I am receiving information of substance from my resident expert, though he is not Beta reading for me (nor does he actually know I am writing this!) Please bare with me if my story breaks one or all of the existing universes._

000

After he started getting into a routine, Loki found that he adjusted quite well to the prison life. He had always been a 'loner' of sorts, so he didn't particularly mind his prison cell. What he missed the most were little things—his chess set, fine wine, tricking his oaf of a 'brother' into a cage…

When he felt like talking, Loki was at least able to hold a half decent conversation is Vestrael. The strange man or even stranger decent was clearly a well versed being. He had traveled through many realms (even popping by Earth once or twice,) spent a great deal of time studying in different cultures, and was even of high born blood. But, as he said, nothing starts a war like religion.

After the rape and murder of his younger sister—all done in the name of religion—Vestrael went on a rampage, killing as many people from the sect as he could until he essentially beserked his way to the so called 'Prophet.' He slaughtered the man on the steps of a cathedral built in his name while his followers watched.

While he was awaiting execution, his clan, the master tacticians they were, took high religious leaders as hostages. They were only released when Vestrael was turned over to Tartaros.

His stories provided much entertainment. His knowledge, as well, was ever enlightening.

It happened on this particular day that Loki had a visitor. It surprised both him and Vestrael when the Tartarians announced the news. What was more surprising—no, shocking—was who his visitor was.

In all the realms, this was possibly _the last person_ he ever expected to visit him in prison. Perhaps that was the point, though.

"Lady Sif," Loki said when she approached his cell door, "to what do I owe this… _pleasure_?" The warrior maiden stared back at him through the small window, her dark hair nearly blending in with the black backdrop of the planet's skyline.

"Things have worsened," she replied lowly. He smiled smugly.

"Well, you didn't think imprisoning me would really be good for anyone, did you?"

Ah, Lady Sif… She and Loki never seemed to see eye to eye. It probably started when he cut off her stunningly golden locks and replaced them with woven, dwarven made hair instead. Loki couldn't help but wonder why she was the one who was sent to speak with him, and not Fandral or even Volstagg.

"The Chitauri's allies have left us alone. Signs indicate that the Chitauri themselves are trying to break into Asgard using the broken Bridge," Sif said. Though he couldn't get close enough to tell, Loki was rather sure she had a slight scowl plastered to her lips.

"They are rather brutish creatures, aren't they? Well, okay, wonderful. What of it?" Putting his hands behind his back, Loki exaggerated his confidence as he glided on back to his chair.

"You are wanted back at Asgard," she said, her tone completely flat, as if she weren't happy about her words. "King Odin would have your knowledge of the Chitauri."

"Why do I get the feeling that there are some horrible conditionsI must meet? Hm?"

Sif seemed as if she wanted to sneer at the seated god. "The Tartarians will strip you of your powers, and you will become mortal. At that point, you will be allowed to return to Asgard as a servant to Odin King."

Loki clenched his teeth and stared back at her. He most certainly wasn't expecting that. "Sif," he said, trying to change the conversation since he didn't want her to know that she struck a chord within him, "why did the 'All-Father' send _you_. Were you so useless that he had to make you an errand boy? Sorry, errand _woman_?"

"I volunteered," Sif said immediately. "I wanted to be the one to tell you that your freedom would come from giving up everything that made you even _slightly_ special."

"Still bitter about your hair, then?"

The woman nearly snorted at his comment. "Hardly. I'm just one of the few who won't be manipulated by your silver tongue. You've taken too much from me. I want to see you become what you hate the most: common." Sif started to back up and turned, "it's your decision. Rot in here for all eternity, or leave here and live a _normal_ life as a servant." She wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of a retort.

Which was good, because he didn't have one.

Loki sat quietly, staring off at a mark on the window sill (that was not originally there when he moved in,) and then down at his red, slightly blistered hands.

"You don't have to accept at the moment," came Vestrael's voice from his right. Loki looked over, but he still wasn't looking anywhere in particular. "You don't have to accept at the moment."

"I heard you."

"They don't usually give prisoners that option until they have been forgotten about—until those who remember your crimes have all died," Vestrael said, "unless they revoke the offer, you could wait centuries before you accept."

"You know of another prisoner who has been told he could walk free if he give up what make him… _him_?" Loki finally focused in on the male standing in the window. They stared at one another for a few moments, and then Loki knew. Vestrael had been there long enough to have been told he could go free.

"I have been here a very long time. The realms must have vastly changed, if they would give you the offer after such a short time. Perhaps it is time that I free myself."

And Vestrael did.

It wasn't right away, but just a few weeks after Sif's visit, Vestrael gave himself to the Tartarians –to strip himself of his uniqueness. He did not leave without passing along the last of his insight to Loki, though.

"This place… it's a physical prison. You can leave it now, whenever you want. You're the only one keeping yourself here, locked up. It can't be helped. You have faced a life that has hardened you, and you have built your own prison. Until you can let go of your anger, your hatred and resentment… You will stay here, alone, missing what life you could still have. I don't expect you to understand, right now. Wait a few hundred years, and you will."

Then Vestrael left, likely never to be seen again by Loki's eyes.

000

"This is getting to be too much!" Fandral parried and thrust, driving his sword into the chest of a Chitauri. He kicked it away to withdraw his sword. "Fall back! Fall back!"

Volstagg helped Sif limp off the battlefield that was the edges of Asgard while Hogun directed survivors towards the palace. More troops were setting up a perimeter, as they had in other part of the city, to try to hold the invaders back. Whenever they managed to close up one portal, another one opened elsewhere. They had lost many Asgardians, and many more were holed up in the barrier of Odin.

"I do not understand!" Shouted Sif as she moved as fast as she could, "they do not have the Tesseract! How could they be making a portal into our realm!" She tripped as she spoke, causing Volstagg to take drastic measure. He disregarded her pride and hoisted her up to carry her to safety. She was in too much pain to argue back.

Sif was originally sent to Loki when the light at the Bi-Frost temporarily lit up so bright that it temporarily blinded the few guards around. When they could see again, it was found that a few of the men were dead, as well as one dead Chitauri.

From that point on, the invasion started. It was small at first, but then more and more enemies would come through the openings, in numbers that the Asgardian warriors could not handle without risking the lives of civilians. When parts of the city fell, the survivors were protected. Odin had sealed himself in his chambers to focus his energy on creating an impenetrable barrier—well, almost impenetrable. Thor, if he managed to return in time, would be able to enter.

But there was no energy left to try to send someone to Earth. If Odin were to try, it was likely he would fall into another cycle of Sleep, leaving the city unprotected. He was not willing to risk the lives of so many. His wavering energy worried him though, as it could mean that his time was drawing near. With Thor so preoccupied with protecting earth, there was no way that he could be a suitable king of Asgard without compromise.

So the Warriors Three and the Lady Sif were truly the only lines of real defense—and they were failing, one by one. Sif's leg had been severely injured in battle, Fandral's dominant arm was bleeding profusely, and Volstagg hadn't eaten in a day. Hogun was the only one who was still in relatively good condition, but that was because he had elected to try to save the citizens instead of fighting a doomed battle.

While Sif didn't want to admit it, she was actually hoping that the damned God of Mischief would accept Odin's offer to return home. They were clearly outnumbered, but even she knew that his intelligence would likely provide them with at least some sort of momentary advantage.

Only time would tell what Loki was willing to do for his freedom.

000

_Additional Notes(2): I apologize for the shortness and the lack of an update last night. I think I will probably have to start doing every other night, now that I have a 'big girl job' and all. I really have to start to get used to the early mornings. Blah._

_So a few notes: if you are a fan of the comics, then you know that Sif eventually became Thor's wife. In this version, I have her blaming Loki for the fact that she can no longer have him, since he's so clearly hung up on Jane. Also, you see it everywhere, but Loki did cut off her hair and replace it with magically woven hair made by dwarves, which gave her dark hair. _

_This story is going to be going in so many different directions, you have no idea. V.V;_

_I'm not going to go on a full explanation on my Thor/Loki relationship, but if you really want to hear my rationale, feel free to PM me!_

_As always, I love hearing your feedback, so please review! It makes my day when I see new ones!_

_Thanks,_

_A_F_


	6. Chapter 6

_Libertas_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing._

_Additional Notes(1): I have only seen the movies and read a few comics. I am receiving information of substance from my resident expert, though he is not Beta reading for me (nor does he actually know I am writing this!) Please bare with me if my story breaks one or all of the existing universes._

000

"Hulk, go!" Captain America said, releasing his shield and letting it crash through two Chitauri. The green beast gave a semi-nod of understanding and picked up the miniaturized missile from the ground next to him and leaped from the ground. He neared the small, open portal and tossed the missile as far in as he could.

When he landed, the bomb sensed the lack of oxygen and exploded. There was a bright light in the sky, and then the portal closed. Between Hulk and Steve, they finished off the few straggling Chitauri.

"We will have to report to the others," Steve said and temporarily rested against one of the alien machine for a breather, "they are coming in larger waves." Hulk once again gave one of his half nods. "I need some dinner. Do you need some? I'm starving."

The Avengers had split up. Not in name, of course, they just weren't physically together. Thor and Ironman were in New York, fighting the alien waves that invaded. Hawkeye and Black Widow were along the east coast, somewhere, keeping that portal at bay. None of them were necessarily all that big, but without proper defenses, the civilians in the area would easily fall.

Bruce had managed to create the mini-missile that they used to temporarily seal the portal. It was designed in such a way that when launched through, it would automatically explode. It wasn't particularly harmful to people, but to Hulk, he wouldn't be close when it exploded. It essentially interrupted gamma rays, causing them to 'scatter' when they hit the form of 'anti-radiation' (as he explained it to the non-science minded members of his group.) If the Chitauri refocused whatever they used to create the small portals, then they would be able to break back through.

Of course, the Chitauri had already figured that out, and they were lucky if they got a few days before a new wave came through a newly reopened portal. It didn't give Banner enough time to try to create another alternative to permanently close the portal.

While they tried to get in touch with Selvig, he swore up and down that he couldn't remember anything about how his second tesseract design worked. They didn't have the tesseract to try to reverse engineer the portal anyhow.

Too add another problem; the citizens they were trying to protect caused them a great deal of problems. Some were willing to put themselves in harm's way to get a glimpse of their heroes. Others did whatever they could to let the Avengers know that they were unnatural.

Thor was recognized as an alien and unwelcome pretty much everywhere, though New Mexico was the worst, since people had not forgotten about their leveled town. He remained in New York because he was able to take care of the Chitauri while they were still in the sky, keeping them from touching ground near civilians. He also couldn't go to the east coast because his skills were rather useless while confined to a jet.

Stark obviously remained in New York because people had accepted him a long time ago. He had the same advantage as Thor—he could keep the enemies from ever reaching the ground alive. As he also pointed out, Ironman's accuracy kept collateral damage to a minimal in the city. People, at least, appreciated that, since they were still trying to rebuild from the previous attack.

He and 'Blondie' worked well enough on the battlefield, but once they were out of armor, Thor could hardly stand Stark. It didn't help that Tony managed to get Thor completely smashed the night before one of the attacks and shaved the god's beard to the famously popular 'Stark Style.'

It also didn't help that Tony kept making cracks at Loki. While Thor had accepted that Loki had to be punished for his crimes against humanity, it simply preferred not to talk about his brother to any of the Avengers. He felt that their image of him was skewed. They had not known him as he had known the imprisoned god. Inevitably, whenever someone tried to talk about Loki, Thor would change the subject or simply… Leave.

Hawkeye and Black Widow were the obvious choices for fight above the sea. They could both pilot jets well enough to keep the Chitauri at bay, and Hawkeye could easily aim the missiles well enough to close up the portals. They had returned from their international trip just in time to be sent off again, but neither seemed to particularly care.

Once Bruce had completed his device to help close up the portals, he left with Steve to go to New Mexico. There wasn't as much for him to damage out West if he got out of control. Captain America was also pretty much the only member of the group that both Banner and The Other Guy both liked. While Bruce _really_ mind him, Hulk didn't seem to care all too much for Tony (just about enough to save him from becoming a pancake against the Earth's surface, but not enough to actually listen.) Hulk could at least listen to the Captain's strategies in battle.

The locals were more willing to accept Hulk as a protector when he was with the Captain. The fact that when he turned back into Bruce, there wasn't a naked man walking into town helped as well. Stark had started working on a highly elastic material (more like a rubber-spandex) for Bruce to wear almost right after the Avengers were officially formed. Though Banner was grateful, he had wished that Tony would have picked a color other than purple for him to wear.

The pair tiredly started walking back towards the town. Hulk returned to his normal, tiny self as they did. "I'm pretty sure I could eat a horse."

"And _I'm _pretty sure you tried on our way out here. That rancher wasn't thrilled."

"I know. I was being serious. I'm pretty sure I could still eat one. I'm starving too. Eat out maybe? I'm think the Inn is getting tired of how much we eat. They might spit in our food," Bruce replied and adjusted his pants.

"You are willing to try to eat a horse, but you're afraid of someone spitting in your hamburger?" Steve looked at the disheveled man walking next to him.

"Well… yeah. Aren't you? That's disgusting."

000

It didn't take long for Loki to start feeling true loneliness again. His initial thought of, _'prison isn't so bad. It's quiet and there is no annoying older 'brother' to cast a shadow,'_ faded rather quickly once Vestrael was gone. His presence was comforting. Loki could lock himself in his head when he chose, but if he wanted to have a conversation, then there was a worthwhile being just through the window.

Now he was stuck with the other bizarre prisoner in the cell to his left. He/she/it/they simply stared back at him when he spoke. Ultimately, he ended up taking to talking to himself.

["—it was simply so incomprehensible. I had lived as a good son. While I admit I had my moments… I had never done anything malicious. I was simply… different. In Asgard, it's typical for men to drink themselves into a stupor. Never enjoyed that, at least not like my 'brother.' They fight like brutes, rushing in without a moment's thought and simply pounding into whatever is closest to them. Do not make mistake, I am a skilled warrior, but I prefer to think things through and find the most likely route to success. I always stood out as well, physically. While I had the height, I didn't have the disproportionate build of a broad shoulders and chest, with a small waist. My hair and eyes were unlike any other Asgardian. Well, at least, until I cut off Sif's hair…" With a sigh, he turned back to the silent prisoner and stared into the brown eyes watching him. "What am I doing…"]

Loki dropped into his chair and wiped his hand across his face.

He craved attention. He always had. If people didn't revere him, then he wanted to be feared. That was his mentality.

It wasn't the four walls that would be the end of him in prison. It would be that he had no one to praise him for the mighty being he was. Vestael's words sat uncomfortably with him as well, but he was completely right. If Loki waited out his sentence to leave with his powers, no one would even remember his name. No one would remember Loki, the not quite son of Odin, the near conqueror of earth, the almost killer of Thor.

What had he done with his life? As he thought back, nothing he had planned had ever actually left his name as memorable.

He was the God of Mischief.

Mischief. Children were mischievous. Cats were mischievous. Men were not—_gods _were not.

"Perhaps… I should accept," he said to himself, in a low tone. "They cannot take my knowledge. I would still be the most brilliant mortal that had ever lived." That thought was not comforting. He knew that even the mortals had individual people who could likely claim to have a higher intelligence though.

He stared off at Vestrael's former window sill. There was a slight gap between the wall and the edge of sill.

As he stared, he knew he had already made up his mind. He made up his mind almost instantly after Sif had come to him.

Loki would accept.

000

_Additional Notes(two): the bracketed section [] above came from this piece of art I found online. If anyone knows this person, I just want them to know I did give them credit. I didn't come up with that stuff on my own. _http: / . com / ?order= 9&q= loki& offset= 216#/d3m 2o4w

_I'm sorry if I'm turning people off from the story! I understand if you lose interest. I do have a plot, I swear. The Avengers won't always be separate. The battles will be more entertaining. There will be less explaining and more showing. I just need to get the characters in place!_

_Eventually, I may do some art for the story. I just have to dig out my Bamboo from my college stuff first… And write more… and Beta… and make the Loki costumes… and help with Thor… and do Sarah's outfit… and finish Cheshire… and make Duchess… and work on Veiltwenty… and help with the anime festival… Oh. And work my Big Girl job. Yeah. Art. Maybe not…_

_If anyone else is artsy out there, go for it. Take anything you'd like from this. Just let me know so I can check it out!_

_As always, your kind reviews are what cause me to keep dishing out more, even though I should be doing 'real' work! Thank you everyone!_

_A_F_


	7. Chapter 7

_Libertas_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing._

_Additional Notes(1): I have only seen the movies and read a few comics. I am receiving information of substance from my resident expert, though he is not Beta reading for me (nor does he actually know I am writing this!) Please bare with me if my story breaks one or all of the existing universes._

000

The thing about Tartanos was that it was, overall, relatively quiet. Loki had learned to identify the typical 'jail sounds' early on, so he could easily tell when something was amiss.

And clearly, he wasn't the only one either. The prison had become much quieter, as of late. The prisoners were all listening. Occasionally, there were loud '_boom'_s or _'crack'_s. Something was going on outside of their containment.

Loki sat, staring once more at his badly burned hands. His brilliant mind told him that if the prison were compromised, then the Tartarians were more likely to intentionally destroy the jail with all of its inhabitants, with some sort of safeguard they sure had in place, than to risk letting even one person escape. Vestrael seemed to get out at the right moment. While he couldn't be certain, Loki also suspected that other prisoners may have been thinking along those same lines.

It seemed as if there was an increase in prisoners being taken from their cells, lead down the same path, and then never to be seen again. Since it was typically rare to see anyone other than Tartarians move by his cell, Loki was concerned. He could only assume that prisoners who had been holding out on accepting the power-stripping bargain weren't ready to wait around to see what would happen.

"I suppose this is my chance," he sighed and stood. Loki turned, placing his hands on his window. He watched as the person next to him was released from their bounds. The Tartarians asked them (for what was apparently not the first time,) if they would sacrifice their powers for freedom. The person nodded. "Guards," Loki called out, catching their attention, "I have made my decision. I will go as well."

From the wall, two more of the undefined people-masses formed. They immediately opened his door and he walked forward without a fight. The usual bubble formed around his body, causing him to once again more without any control. As he walked, he couldn't help but think he should have waited to see who his cell neighbor had been, since he was now ahead of the person and could not look behind him.

However, he could not risk the guards looking too closely at his cell.

He was sure that four guards waiting for him to exit would be much more likely to notice some discrepancies in the room than only two.

As he was led away, there was very little commotion. Most of the prisoners were too busy listening for the periodic blasts to pay much attention to him. Those whom did appeared to be… jealous.

It was an odd sensation for Loki. There were very few times in his life where he could say that someone looked upon him with envy. He was the one usually doing the envying. He supposed that those prisoners who did were the ones who would choose to leave, if they were give the option.

Loki watched carefully for any exits he could find, but the prison was truly a labyrinth and they seemed to only go deeper. A moment of panic hit him like a punch. He didn't believe that the Tartarians had the ability of deception, but what if they were? What if this was all a trick? What if he wouldn't be released?

Maybe… maybe he had signed his own death sentence.

However, that moment passed as quickly as it came.

Loki was guided into a large, domed room by the Tartarians, his cell 'mate' still behind him. There was already an elderly man in the room, seated securely in a stone chair with carved runes. He wore a prisoner uniform.

Had Loki not been a prisoner in this realm, he would have easily chosen to stay in it and study the technology. Tartanos was _truly_ a awe-inspiring world.

In the dead center of the room was a large crystal—no, a large _prism._ It had similar runes as the chair, the guard-beings, and even in… _certain parts…_ of the cells. However, unlike the chair and cell material, and very much like the Tartarians, the runes were floating inside of the prism.

He watched as a distinctly different Tartarian (it actually looked female from where he stood) pulled a lever from where she? stood on a platform near the start of the dome, with a door behind her. An oculus opened from the top, letting an incredibly bright light shine directly down into the prism. It bounced around quickly, activating the runes within, and then shot out into the chest of the man in the chair.

And then he started screaming. Screaming, and screaming, and screaming.

Loki could not draw his eyes away from the man, but he very much wanted to do so. He had to blink a few times to make sure that what he thought he was seeing was actually real.

It looked as if the man's spirit were being ripped right out of his body. Seriously. It was if a ghost of the man was pulled forward, fighting to get back into the physical form. The runes on the chair illuminated, seeming to sever the connection and sending the spirit figure flying into the prism. Though the oculus was then shut, the prism still glowed for a few moments. Below it was a small orb that absorbed the light and pulsated slightly.

'_How could they possess this sort of technology?' _Loki thought as one of the guards approached the crystal and gingerly took the orb from its holder. _'This realm is dark—yet they have such a strong light source. I have never even heard of such… magic. They do not just strip a being's power. They __take__ it!'_

The Tartarians started to prep him for his procedure, much to Loki's dismay. All of his planning was starting to become a distant thought, somewhere in the back of his mind.

However, they would not get very far.

There was a deafening crash from above them, and the oculus started to crack. The guards immediately looked up, speechless. A few ran to the platform with the 'woman' and tried to help keep it closed using the lever. However, the oculus was forced opened by something from the other side.

The god didn't even notice that he was no longer in his bubble. The Tartarians were running around, trying to secure the oculus and the crystal, hardly even paying any mind to him. It wasn't until someone yanked his arm and dragged him to find shelter behind the runed chair that he realized he could control his movements.

When he looked down at his side, he expected to see one of the guards. He was not expecting to see a scarred young woman with long, messy black hair. Seeing her black uniform and her brown eyes, he knew instantly that it was the silent cell neighbor. "You're a woman?"

She looked back at him with an annoyed look. "Better than being an 'It,'" she responded sharply, referring to the way he constantly addressed her. "Now would be a good time to remove the bars from your cuffs. We're going to have to fight if we want to leave with ourselves completely intact."

"You figured out my plan? I never told Vestrael, so you can say you heard me." Not long after Loki was moved to his second cell, he had started planning his escape, though it hadn't formed entirely until Sif came to him.

The Tartarians could not enter the cells, where he could not use his magic. They could enter the showers, where he could also use his frost giant abilities. The water mixture he showered in dampened but did not repress his magic, and the guards avoided getting wet at all costs while they were with the prisoners during shower time. When they had to force a prisoner out of his cell, the cells themselves lit up in certain areas with runes.

His conclusion? The Tartarians were made of a sort of magic, and they could not enter an area that restricted magic without destroying their bodies. He would find out shortly if that were true.

"Vestrael's smart, but not observant. Never was. Give me one of the runes." She put out her hand and peeked over the chair, but ducked again, just in time to miss a blue energy beam.

"I'm not exactly into the idea of goodwill," he replied, turning out his pant cuffs for the sharp pieces of stone that had been imbedded in the wall. He dug them out in small chunks by removing the window sills that were not spelled to harm him.

"Do you expect to fight all of the Tartarians and the Chitauri at once?" She asked with a raised brow.

Ah, yes. The Chitauri. He had suspected that the energy beam belonged to one of their weapons. Their growls as they dropped in from the oculus also helped clue him in.

"The door behind the lever operator," Loki said as he gave the young woman a shard. "I cannot yet be sure, but I believe that there is an exit that way. It is where they took the old man."

"I hope that's right, if not, we could just end up in a horrible trap. I suppose we don't have much choice. Don't let them touch you, and _don't_ get caught in the light."

The two jumped out from behind the chair at the same time, but on opposite sides. When Tartarians tried to near them, they attacked. Loki held two shards, while his _partner_ held only one (_'I really should have asked her name, shouldn't I have?'_)He used them to ward the guards off, but the only way he could find to really dissipate them was to aim carefully and throw the runed material through the Tartarians' centers. He managed to destroy three in such a manner.

When Loki looked over at the young woman, she had figured out a similar strategy. He dodged the Chitauri as he moved closer to her, both of them nearing the suspected exit door. The problem was that he could hear his name being said by the invaders. They recognized him, and they were turning their weapons on his specifically.

"_**LOKI**_**!" **from the Oculus descended the enemy clearly marked as the Chitauri general. "_**Fortune smiles upon us. We will have the Prism AND your life!"**_

Loki backed up slowly, his hands bleeding from holding the shards so tightly. This had not been part of his plan.

Luckily, he wasn't alone. The woman dove into him from his side, forcing him to roll around with her on the ground. He was utterly confused, especially when hands pulled at his shirt, popping the buttons right off and ripping it off of him in the chaos. "This is _hardly _the time to attempt to satisfy any pent up lust, woman!"

Clawed hands pulled him from the woman, forcing him to stand. He was expecting some sort of injury to befall him, but they held him in place. He looked around at their ugly faces to see bewilderment staring back at him.

When he looked to where he thought the woman should have been, she wasn't there.

He looked back at a man, shirtless, pale, with dark hair and blue eyes.

He was looking back at himself.

000

_Additional Notes(two):_ _wow. 500+ hits in less than 12 hours. I'm impressed with you guys! You never cease to amaze me! Your reviews entertain me to no end!_

_I hope you liked this chapter. I wasn't really feeling it until the end, and then BAM. I couldn't find a good spot to stop. When I introduced this character, like, four chapters ago or whatever, I had different plans. Then they changed. And then they changed again. I decided to add even more on to the story! _

_One thing I can confirm is that this character is not in the story for romantic interest. I don't know if that is a good thing or a bad thing in your opinion, but she plays another role. Parts of her past might be hinted at, but I'm not sure if there will ever be an ideal time to explain it. If you have guesses, feel free to PM with them =P. I want to see how well I do at dropping hints as the story goes!_


	8. Chapter 8

_Libertas_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing._

_Additional Notes(1): I have only seen the movies and read a few comics. I am receiving information of substance from my resident expert, though he is not Beta reading for me (nor does he actually know I am writing this!) Please bare with me if my story breaks one or all of the existing universes._

000

"What sort of trickery is this?" The Chitauri general hissed, "who is the real Loki? Tell me!"

Loki looked down at himself. He seemed absolutely no different, except shirtless. Indeed, there were two exact replicas of the prisoner _951220_. "_I _am Loki," said the god and his doppelganger said at the same moment, giving each other the same, furrowed brow glare.

The only way that he was able to tell that copy-cat was the female prisoner was by her/his pants. Whereas his were a little baggy, '_hers_'came right above the ankle. He now understood why she tackled him to the ground and pulled off his shirt. While the invaders did not notice the small discrepancy of the pants, even they would have noticed a shirt that did not fit, so they both had to be shirtless.

There was a rumble from the ground, and then a lurch. The floor beneath them started to sink at an uneven pace, quickly causing cracks to appear all around the domed room.

"Take them both! Collect the prism!" The Chitauri rushed around, placing a cover over the crystal to cut off the power and then connected cables from the oculus to the base. Working like a well oiled, military machine, they successfully raised the enormous prism up and out of the room. They cuffed the two Loki's and pushed them onto their hover vehicals, leaving as rapidly as they could.

As he had suspected, the Tartarians would destroy the entire prison and trap or kill all of the remaining prisoners without a spare thought. While he was unhappy to be in the Chitauri hands (they were terribly unhappy with him,) he was glad to have been pulled from the mess before they caused the entire prison to sink into some darkness of the realm.

The bright light immediately caused a headache to form. It had been so long since he had seen _real_ light. He wasn't sure he liked, nor missed it.

Shielding his eyes with his bound wrists, Loki forced himself to look down upon the realm that had kept him contained for Odin knows how many months. He was somewhat shocked to see that Tartanos was actually quite bright—_ridiculously_ bright. There were miles upon miles of simply green land and blue lakes. The prison was only in a small section, by comparison, and it was completely encased. The Chitauri had broken through after what looked like repeated attempts, since there were cracks in numerous areas.

They were carried to a large battle ship that opened for their arrival. Clearly, the Chitauri had prepared for retrieval and not just an attack. Was he originally part of that plan? Or did he just happen to be in the 'right' place at the 'right' time (could becoming their prisoner really be called a good thing?)

With his previous dealings with the Chitauri, Loki had successfully managed to avoid direct contact with their territory. To be honest, the entire race made him semi uncomfortable—they were such an odd mixture of biotechnology.

And their ship was no different. Parts of it seemed to be living, while others seemed highly technological.

It was also very… blue. They seemed to have quite an affinity for it.

When the hover-cycles landed in the docking station, more Chitauri immediately closed in on Loki and his doppelganger. He didn't bother to struggle, since he knew that he couldn't possibly take on so many of the warrior race. Even if he could, where would he go? Right back to Tartanos? No, they would have to be his ride out.

"With me!" Shouted the Chitauri general, causing the others to scrabble to fall in line. The two prisoners were practically dragged throughout the ship. Though he tried to pay attention for future reference, it was hard for Loki to concentrate when the other one distracted him so much. It was eerie how well _she_ mirrored his mannerisms. _She_ was even able to stumble at almost the same time he did.

Loki assumed that they had reached the bridge when they entered a rather large control room, filled with soldiers manning systems at individual stations. In the center of the lowest level, a pedestal similar to the one the prism had been housed upon was being prepped.

"What is this? Do you find this to be humorous, General Kit-arl?" Judging by the armor he wore, Loki believed that the solider standing at the head of the bridge was another general himself.

"When we retrieved the prism, there was a female prisoner with the Asgardian. They performed some sort of magic, and we are cannot be sure which is the true Loki," replied Kit-arl with a growl. While they had the same title, Loki did not need to be Chitauri to see that one held more power.

"Then beat it out of both of them! Anyone taking on the image of the failed Asgardian prince is a fool, and will be punished with him!"

The soldiers had no problem following that command.

The generals stood back and watched silently as wave after wave of Chitauri took turns abusing their prisoners. They grabbed Loki by the head and forced him on his knees, while they kicked in the back of his double's legs. They were tossed around like rag dolls. He wished to no end that his hands were free and he had enough energy to use any of his abilities. However, his hands were still destroyed from the shards, and the inability to use his magic for months left him almost useless.

As he was thrown to the metal ground for the umpteenth time, he could feel that his right shoulder was surely dislocated. He wondered how long _she_ would hold out. The beating likely wouldn't stop until she submitted and gave up his form. Every time he said that he was the true Loki, she simply said something similar.

He couldn't help but wonder what they would do to him once they knew that he _was_ the one they wanted—the one that caused the destruction of at least half of their population.

Well, he would find out soon.

He watched as one of the soldiers pinned his doppelganger down and wrapped his hands around _her_ throat. It was an odd sensation, watching himself be suffocated. The other noises in the room died out and he hardly felt the pain in his body. He just watched as his image gasped for air, struggling to free _her_ arms. Loki swore he could feel his own throat closing up.

When _she _went limp, his image faded away, leaving the female form lying still on the ground. They released her, and to his relief(?) he could see that she was still breathing. She had blacked out.

"Take them to the holding cells—"

_Great, more prison cells._

"—prep the Prism, and set a course for earth. When the machine is ready, we will test it on the prisoners."

So Loki and the partially nude woman were completely dragged from the bridge, down some number of levels, and thrown into joined cells roughly.

As he slouched against the wall, working on breaking his cuffs, he felt almost bad for the woman. But then again, what did she think she would accomplish by taking _his_ form?

"Just need a few moments, and I can figure out a new plan," Loki said to himself and exhaled deeply. His few moments would turn into a few hours as his head fell back and he also blacked out from a head wound he didn't even know he had.

000

When he awoke, he was startled to see a Chitauri staring at him from only inches away from his face. "What in the All Father's name—"

"Shhh!" The soldier quickly clasped a hand over his mouth. Reflexively, Loki's hand shot out and pulled the hand away. It was then that he noticed he was no longer wearing his cuffs, and more importantly, the Chitauri didn't have a weapon.

The female prisoner wasn't in her cell. "You are…?" The Chitauri nodded.

"We have to move fast. They're coming for us soon. I don't want to strip myself any more than you do."

"No, you'd rather do the stripping, wouldn't you," Loki replied dryly. She lightly hit him in the head. "Right, right, well, lead on. Clearly you thought up a plan before I did."

The psudo-Chitauri soldier held up strangely formed keys, "this is pretty much what I do—did—for a living. If they stop us, I'm taking you to the bridge on the orders of General Kit-arl. Put the cuffs back on, but be prepared to slip them."

The bruised Loki stood and groaned in response to his injuries, but walked out ahead of the changeling (yes, changeling was what he would dub her as,) to act as her prisoner. Though he wasn't entirely comfortable with it, he didn't have any better options. He had seen that the bridge was where a gateway was located. It was one similar to the one the Chitauri used to get to the meeting place when summoned by their 'boss.'

At least she had turned out to be much more helpful than he ever would have imagined from his cell on Tartanos. Which reminded him: he _still_ had not caught her name.

When they turned a corner, a pair of Chitauri suddenly blocked them. "You are escorting the prisoner to the bridge?"

"Yes. The orders have just been received. The prisoner is to be taken immediately," she said without missing a beat. Loki was impressed at how much she sounded like one of the guards. Her articulation was exact.

"General Kit-arl sent for both prisoners. Where is the other one?" One of the guards asked, suspiciously.

"The female prisoner resisted. She is being subdued now. Orders were to act without delay." The changeling stood tall and did not waiver. She had a stare down with the two others, until they cleared the path to let her pass with Loki.

"If I didn't know better," Loki whispered as they cleared ear-shot, "I would truly believe you to be one of them."

"Like I said, it's what I do."

They moved a little quicker as they neared the bridge, Loki leading the way since he was conscious when they were taken. But when they did reach it, they faultered.

There was a line of Chitauri on hovercrafts, waiting for the portal to open to earth. They moved from the fire into the troop of armed enemy warriors, which was _far_ worse than the fire pit.

The portal was opening, the prism was being prepped, and they were surrounded. "Make a run for it," the changeling whispered, "I can provide a distraction at the very least."

"Why would you do that? For me? You don't even know me."

"I observe. I watched you a lot in the prison. You're a product of your environment, and I pity you. You've never been given a fair chance. I know what it's like, and I've always wish I had someone who could've helped me when the world was against me. Additionally, that portal is going to Earth. That's not where I'm going," she responded, readying herself to make the biggest scene she possibly could.

"I will think on how much I dislike you for pitying me later," Loki mumbled, he hated pity. "Where are you trying to get? How will you get there?"

"Wherever Vestrael went. We have unfinished business. I will figure it out. Always have. Don't end up in prison again. Go!" She shoved him forward and started to change into a new shape. He didn't bother looking back, as he had to focus on the task ahead of him.

Making it two hundred feet had never been so hard in his life. He was without armor, with limited power, and enemies shooting at him every chance they had.

He was doing rather well though, using his duplicating effect to trick the Chitauri into attacking shadow forms of himself. It was when he neared the prism that they decided a new tactic.

"AIM FOR THE PRISM!" The more powerful general shouted. The soldiers immediately complied. Laser upon laser was fired directly into the crystal. He missed the bouncing light rays with incredible agility, but only just. Because they were fired from the sides rather than above, they did not fully activate the prism's power. Still they managed to hit their own forces.

Their aim didn't seem to be wonderful at close ranges. They managed to hit a few of the prism's orbs, shattering them instantly. The general cursed angrily, and they stopped aiming for the prism overall. As he passed by the safe crystal, the god managed to grab one of the two remaining orbs.

He simply couldn't pass up the opportunity get his hands on one of the peculiar objects.

Loki grabbed one of the fallen weapons, a spear like weapon, and fought his way to one of the hovercrafts. He spared a glance behind him to see a humongous cat creature tearing out the throats of as many Chitauri it could reach. _What a marvelous creature…_

While he secured a vehical, Loki did not notice some of the soldiers adjusting the position of the crystal.

Nor did he notice the flash grenade being tossed into the air.

He never even saw the beam of spelled light flying at him, causing the other Chitauri to dive out of the way.

Oh did he feel it though.

He had not felt such pain since he had fallen out of the realm of Asgard. It felt as if his very core was being torn from his body with dull tongs. It twisted and pulled and he screamed until it felt that his throat was going to burst.

Loki held on to the vehicle, and it lurched forward, sending him spiraling from the Chitauri ship and into the darkness of Earth.

000

_Additional Notes(two):_ _well, it's a slightly longer chapter tonight. I do not know when I will update next. I don't know if it will be tomorrow or what. I have plans for the weekend, but if I have a chance, then maybe I will sit down and write more. I was going to save some of this for the next chapter, but I decided just to write it into one to hold you guys off!_

_Now… as for YOU guys… I see you clicking! I get 500 hits in 12 hours! If even half of you reviewed, I would be the happiest person alive! It would help me write more faster, and ensure I get something out over the weekend! Keep that in mind!_

_For you who already review—you are all so darling, and I love you dearly!_

_At this point, I don't think you will ever get the female prisoner's name. I might write an offshoot and post it somewhere else, just to wrap up her story (which involves Vestrael.) Or I might bring them both back later for a brief moment. Who knows?_

_Kit-Arl is a reference to Asha Clan-Clan from Outlaw Star, which is why the woman turned into a cat creature =)_

_Thank you everyone for reading!_

_A_F_


	9. Chapter 9

_Libertas_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing._

_Additional Notes(1): I have only seen the movies and read a few comics. I am receiving information of substance from my resident expert, though he is not Beta reading for me (nor does he actually know I am writing this!) Please bare with me if my story breaks one or all of the existing universes._

000

Whenever he hit earth's atmosphere, Loki's screaming ceased—mostly because he couldn't breathe, more than any other reason.

It was the middle of the night, in that part of the world/realm, and he couldn't see the ground that he was nearing. His Chitauri craft started on a rapid spinning course but Loki used the last of his strength to guide it off, far away from the rest of the platoon.

The lack of oxygen (which had never bothered him in the past, even when he was in _space_,) caused his vision to blur. The next thing that he was even semi-aware of was hitting the flat, sandy ground, his ride skidding and breaking apart until it finally stopped. Choking on what he believed could be his own blood, Loki dragged himself as far away from the craft as he could, just in case the Chitauri would attempt to track the vehical.

And then he prepared himself for death, _for surely_, he thought, _I am dying._

000

"One day, my ass… freaking S.H.I.E.L.D. blocking me… really, what did they expect to find my in car? A convic— _SHHITTT!_" Darcy Lewis slammed on her breaks, swerving her Jeep to avoid the mess in the New Mexico road. "What the hell!"

The twenty-five year old threw open her door and immediately checked on the condition of her car (which she so lovingly called Cheryl.) "Oh, Cheryl baby, are you okay? I'm so sorry! That mess just came out of nowhere!" That was a complete lie, and her car knew it. Had she been paying attention to the road instead of finding a station that was a non-Hispanic radio station, she probably would've avoided the rubble just fine.

"What a mess," she muttered, her hands on her hips, "someone should definitely do something. This could cause an accident." Darcy shrugged and headed back to her car door. "Not my problem anymore!"

She started to turn her Jeep to maneuver past the metallic blue mess in the road, which her high beams fell upon an arm. "Son of a… No, Darcy, no! You've the horror movies! Beautiful, smart, funny girl goes to investigate a clearly bizarre… thing… and BAM! Someone's wearing her skin. Just call the cops and leave…"

Darcy pulled out her phone and dialed 911. Of course, being in the middle of the desert with strange things flying out of the sky and government agencies doing whatever cover-up scheme they could think of, she had no cell phone reception. "Should've stuck with Verizon… Damn you, T Mobile girl and your motorcycle!" Nonetheless, she kept trying, convinced if she pressed the call button enough, it would work.

It didn't.

Most people would go their lives never find some random person in need in the middle of the desert. Not her though. This would be Darcy's _second_ random person/body_. _With her handy taster set on high, the woman parked her car again, illuminating as much area as possible, and got out.

"Hello?" She called, hoping for a response. "Are you, uh, _alive_?" Nothing. "I'm armed. If you try anything, I _will_ shoot."

Still nothing.

Darcy reared and saw that it was a shirtless (well toned) man, easily over six feet tall, with dark hair. He was also badly injured. Hesitantly, she reached a hand out to check for pulse. He was alive, if barely, and absolutely freezing. He was unarmed, and his hands looked almost useless.

Putting her Taser back on its 'safe, she tried to pick up the man. After a few attempts, she kicked a dead bush out of frustration. "This was so much easier when we had three people!" Darcy paced for a few moments, trying her phone again and thinking of her options.

She did have a ridiculously ugly woven blanket in her back set from her friends' bon fire…

Deciding to go a different route, Darcy retrieved the cover from her trunk and took it back to the man. She rolled him onto the blanket roughly, earning her a groan. "Yeah, well, beggars can't be choosers. Want me to leave you here?" Grabbing on to the front end, she pulled in short bursts. Sometimes she had to actually stop to clear out rubble from beneath the blanket. She honestly had to wonder if she was doing more harm than good.

By the time she finally got him to her passenger side, it seemed as if he were coming in and out of consciousness. "C;mon, give me some help here," she heaved, trying to get him into the seat. He managed to aid in guiding his body, and get blood and dirt all over her car, but not much more. "Let's get you to the hospital."

"No," the man croaked, "no… I need… Thor…"

Darcy froze. Did he just say… _Thor_?

"Seriously dude, you need help—"

"No," he said again, but much louder than before, "get me to Thor, _mortal_!"

On any other occasion, Darcy would have said that the injured man was a bag full of crazy. But this was just way too similar to be a coincidence.

He was a man calling her _mortal_ and asking for one of the Avengers. Had they ever even disclosed their names? Besides Stark and maybe Rogers? He was also near the site of Thor's initial touchdown, where the other alien invaders had appeared. No, Darcy knew that this guy was for real. She glanced over sympathetically at the bleeding man, resting his weight against the car door and window.

"All right, she responded uncomfortably, "I'll take you to Thor…"

Her Seattle trip could wait.

She didn't really want to go meet with her admissions for her Master's degree anyhow.

000

"I'm not sure Stark," Bruce Banner said over the Bluetooth, "this definitely belongs to the Chitauri. It looks like it hit the ground with pretty extreme speed, but there's no body." He and Rogers were still in the desert, cleaning up the mess the invaders made.

However, after a night time attack that ended in the portal being closed from _the other end_, S.H.I.E.L.D. decided that further investigation was needed.

So there they were, standing in the blazing heat, staring at the wreckage of a Chitauri vehicle. "Is it just me, or do those look like drag marks?" Steve stared down at the odd patterns in the dirt and sand. He couldn't do much with the technology, so he was forced to stand idly by while Banner handled it all.

Bruce and one of the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents stared down, "huh, yeah, like, uh, a tarp or something."

"And these," Steve quickly said, pointing down to some shoe prints near a dead bush, "it looks like a boot. Relatively small. Maybe… a lady's shoes?"

"Well… yeah, you're right. Hear that, Stark? It's possible that a woman could have been here and took something from the crash site. This can't be a good thing," Bruce said over the line again.

"_It's not like people haven't seen them all over the news,"_ Tony said, though only Banner and a few S.H.I.E.L.D. agents could hear, _"we aren't exactly looking at a Roswell scandal. All you've—I JUST HAD THAT WINDOW REPLACED, COME ON! ATTACK ANOTHER BUILDING! Green, I've gotta go. You know, city to save, living aliens to fight. Put out a missing person's report on a blue, metallic person or something, I don't know. Call later." _

The line disconnected, and one of the agents snickered.

"We aren't going to get any help from New York," Bruce muttered. "What are you doing, Cap'n?"

"You know, you guys put an awful lot of weight on technology, and you don't bother looking around," Steve responded. He pointed to the ground, on a slight hill, near where the drag marks started. "Now, I know for a fact that the Chitauri don't bleed red."

One of the agents clicked off his phone and walked up to the Banner. "We tried to get Satellite feed, but just like man of the other occasions, the radiation was too strong. We can't see who came through this area. Shall we… put out an APB on… blue, metal men?" Bruce glared at the agent, who quickly backed up. "My apologies. Now isn't the time for jokes."

"Well, as Captain Rogers just pointed out, Chitauri don't have red blood. We might be looking at a victim of falling debris, rather than one of the invaders."

"Start calling around to hospitals or other medical clinics," Steve directed, proud that he had discovered that the tech eager agents might have (but probably not) missed. "The cellular reception is poor out here at this distance. Maybe a passerby saw an injured person and decided to try to take them for help, instead of trying to wait to call an ambulance."

A few of the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents nodded and stepped away, immediately sending out word to all of the local possibilities.

"Do you really think many people would find a crash site, after seeing all of the footage on TV and online, and decide to drive whoever they found to the hospital?" Bruce asked in a tone of a distinct disbelief.

"Why not?" Steve responded, "I would."

000

_Additional Notes(two): sorry for it being relatively short! I didn't think that I would get around to updating until Sunday, so I wrote that super long chapter, which led to less content for this one! Whoops! I will be aiming for a longer chapter for chapter ten, promise! There is a chance that my updates could start becoming fewer, so…. If you are interested in me continuing, please review!_

_For those of you who reviewed after I asked in the last chapter, thank you! It was nice to know that you are out there!_

_JUST FYI: Cheryl is the name of my roommate's computer. I do not claim right in coming up with "Cheryl" as an inanimate object's name. THERE. I CITED YOU. JUST IN CASE YOU READ THIS AND GET ANGRY THAT I STOLE IT WITHOUT ASKING. _

_Thank you everyone for your wonderful comments, they truly make my day!_

_A_F_


	10. Chapter 10

_Libertas_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing._

_Additional Notes(1): I have only seen the movies and read a few comics. I am receiving information of substance from my resident expert, though he is not Beta reading for me (nor does he actually know I am writing this!) Please bare with me if my story breaks one or all of the existing universes._

000

Loki's body throbbed. His few hours of rest had conserved his energy and redirected it to healing his many wounds. While he knew that had lost most of his powers, it seemed that some could not be taken. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Loki could vaguely recall that Thor, even when Odin took his powers, was left with the ability to heal. It like came from a biological make up, rather than powers or magic.

He opened his eyes to a squint, looking at the sunrise in the horizon. He could not help but be utterly disoriented. Finally lifting his head, he looked at the person next to him.

"Have you kidnapped me?" He asked, halfheartedly. The woman driving the earth vehicle didn't even glace at him. She did, however, hold up an unfamiliar device that was in her lap.

"As if," she snorted, "but see this? This will hurt. A lot. So, here are some ground rules, whoever you are. No touching. NO back talking. No messing with the radio. Got it?"

"And why am I taking commands from you?"

"I'm the one who save you from becoming buzzard food, that's why. Plus, I'm probably one of the only people who can take you to Thor," Darcy answered with a proud smile.

"Thor?" Loki asked quickly, "what makes you think I need him?"

"Uh, 'cause when I offered to take you to the _hospital_, you said, _'oh, no, no, I need Thor, Thorrr!'_" She said, exaggerating his previous whines. Loki was not pleased.

IN actuality, he didn't remember insisting to see Thor at all. He couldn't think of a single reason why he would _want_ to see Thor. However…If the Chitauri were bringing the prism to Earth, perhaps he could use it to his advantage. Perhaps… he could take both his power (again) _and_ Thor's.

Yes, Thor _would_ be the suitable person to track down. Surely his sentimental 'brother' would be sympathetic to his certain plight. "Woman," Loki said, matter of fact-ly, "I feel as though I am about to be sick."

000

"I thought getting the go-ahead to come back to New York would be a good thing," said Clint from his stArk tower perch. He notched two explosive-tipped arrows and let them fly: one hit a Chitauri craft, immediately taking out two of the invades as they hurtled to the ground, and one hit the neighboring alien in the eye. The explosion caused the second to not only lose his head, but dive into another craft. With two arrows, Barton succeeded in killing six Chitauri.

"Nice job, Robin Hood," Tony said as he rounded a corner, leading a small platoon into a cannon lined street way.

Most of Manhattan had been evacuated in the past two weeks. The portals had pretty much entirely stopped opening along the east coast, leaving Hawkeye and Black Widow to focus their energy elsewhere.

When the civilians were cleared out, Tony worked on making the city as deadly as he could for the Chitauri. He essentially booby trapped the major city to react to anything that emitted a certain level of radiation—though when Bruce returned, he would have to readjust the react-able targets, since the Hulk would set off the numerous firearms.

Even the attacks in the South-West had become fewer, without any explanation. There had been many times when the aliens came in greater numbers in the desert. As much as the Avengers tried, they were completely in the dark as to what, exactly, their enemy was after.

They hadn't bothered to try to take over _anything_. They didn't care where the civilians were. Originally, the Chitauri directly targeted the Avengers (specifically Thor.) But since they had limited their attack ranges, it seemed as if they were… _searching_ for something.

The aliens would actually break into buildings, scan apartments and offices, and just _leave_.

"This portal is quite a bit larger than the usual ones," Natasha said from her spot in her mini-jet. "We've seen this before, it will probably take two missiles to try to shut it."

"Well, I'm a little busy down here, sooo, you're just going to have to load up another all by yourself, kay, princess?"

"I always load them by myself," the red headed woman muttered and dipped down to the landing pad set up next to stArk tower. "Hawkeye, you covering me?"

"Do you really have to ask?" Barton responded, moving to view her positioning. Without a moment's hesitation he shot a lone invader who had jumped down onto the building rooftop behind Natasha.

Stark had added a covered shelter with the entire setup for missile loading. Natasha hurried to the control panel and started furiously typing away, trying to get the missile installed quickly. There was an explosion a few yards away from her. When she looked up, she saw that Barton had stopped a few Chitauri from attempting to blow up the side wall of the shelter.

"Come on!" Natasha tapped the side of the console repeatedly as she waited for the program to finish calibrating the missile to her jet.

Just as she was running back to her cockpit, there was a thunderous boom from a few blocks away. "They've demolished an entire structure!" Thor called out over their communication line, "They set some sort of explosive devices along the edge and detonated them after they finished searching the building! Their actions simply do not seem rational!"

"Well, we'll worry about it later. I'm closing this thing _now_." Natasha took off and flew right into the descending enemy forces, ramming into as many as she could before aiming and shooting two consecutive missiles right into the portal. There was a brief pause, and then a bright light.

The large portal closed, leaving just a few scores of Chitauri on the ground. So really, the fun was just starting.

The Avengers had started their own game since the abandonment of Manhattan: "Chitauri Kill of the Week." After Thor had kicked a half-smashed piano out of a fourth story window, crushing one of the aliens, Stark started the game.

Hawkeye shot at one of the Chitauri, pinning him to a transformer and sending a rush of electric current through the blue-silver body. "I think I win this week, guys. He's extra crispy."

000

"Alright, dude, I'm tired, you're hurt, let's find a cheap motel and get you cleaned up, and, you know, _clothed,_" Darcy said, waving her hands at Loki's half naked body. "We'll take a day to figure out a plan and leave tomorrow morning. Plus, I don't want you in my car if you're going to keep getting sick. I've had enough drunk friends mess up Cheryl, I'm not about to let a stranger do that too. You done?"

Loki did not immediately answer.

He was hunched over, head buried in his arms, inwardly groaning. The last time he had felt like this was after his Coming of Age party. Odin and Thor insisted that he drink every time Fandral referenced something he loved about himself. Loki was smashed within an hour and trying desperately to flirt with Lady Sif (who was barely 'Of Age' herself, and a _blonde_.) The next day, he was convinced that someone had drugged him, since none of the other Asgardians were as sick as he.

One more hint that he should have taken.

"Whatever you say, woman," Loki responded tiredly, his voice muffled by his arms. He ached too much to act high and might with the mortal.

"And stop calling me that!" Darcy said as she walked to her trunk to get a bottle of water. No one went anywhere without a case in their back seat while in New Mexico. "Here. My name's Darcy. Who are you?"

Loki took a moment to think about his response while he rinsed his mouth and chugged the rest of his water.

If he said _'Loki',_ he would possibly be recognized as a wanted criminal on Earth. "Vestrael," he coughed, "I am from the Alfheim, allies of the Asgardians. I could not reach Asgard because I was attacked mid journey. Earth was as close as I could get."

'_At least this woman seems oblivious enough—if she willingly rescued me, then she should likely believe such a story without hesitation_,_'_ the god thought to himself as he shoved the empty bottle back into her hands. She rolled her eyes and tossed it off the side of the road.

"A good one…"

"Okay, well, _Vestrael_, let's get moving. We still have, like, a half hour of driving, and I'm really not kidding about being tired. Thank god there's nothing to hit out here if I nod off. Unless another one of your buddies drops from the sky…"

The odd pair climbed back into the car. To Loki's displeasure, his chauffer turned up the screeching racket she called music and started singing along _very loudly_. "Dear All-father, put me back in prison," he muttered with a groan, roughly resting his head against the now dirty passenger side window.

"What? Did you say something?" Darcy asked and momentarily turned down her music. She didn't wait for him to respond, however, as Kansas's _Wayward Son_ came over the radio. "_Eeya!"_ She squealed at a level he certainly believed to be inhuman, "I _love_ this song!"

Loki (aka, the newly dubbed Vestrael,) sighed and shut his eyes. Riding inside of earth vehicles always made him feel quite sick, as he had found out upon his last visit. The best way to combat his flip-flopping stomach was to shut his eyes and try to sleep.

He managed to do so, which was quite a feat, considering how incredibly loud Darcy's _noise_ was.

000

_Additional Notes: well, I didn't manage to get this chapter out yesterday. My apologies. I sat down to watch Ironman, thinking that would help me write, but it didn't. It just majorly distracted me! If anyone cares to know, since Darcy's character barely got screen time in Thor, I'm basing a lot of her off of Kat Dennings character in House Bunny. I think she's hilarious._

_And yes, I did just reference Zombieland up there._

_If you all keep reviewing, I __will__ keep writing. You __will__ need to stay on top of me to update! I just confirmed my trip to Dragon Con, and I am half thinking about trying to finish at least one of my Loki costumes for it, which means major works needs to happen by August… So… unless you want my creative attentions to be diverted elsewhere, please review!_

_Thanks to all of you who have sent me such amazing reviews thus far!_

_A_F_


	11. Chapter 11

_Libertas_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing._

_Additional Notes(1): I have only seen the movies and read a few comics. I am receiving information of substance from my resident expert, though he is not Beta reading for me (nor does he actually know I am writing this!) Please bare with me if my story breaks one or all of the existing universes._

000

"You're kidding me! I stayed here, like, two months ago! You charged me fifty bucks for a night!" Darcy said, her jaw dropping when she saw the prices for a room. It was now up to $169 a night.

"Well, lady, that was before people started abandoning the neighboring towns. Demand for a room away from them aliens has gone way up. Plus, some of them fanatics have been traveling out this way to try 'nd get a piece of alien wreckage," the motel owner named Jim said. He wore a cowboy hat and a blye tee-shirt with a rough representation of a Chitauri head plastered to the front. On the back, it read, _'Told You So.'_

"Where's the nearest mens wear shop?"

"Not for another twenty miles or so. But I got limited supplies I can sell ya," he said, raising a brow. "Why to ya need mens clothes anyway?"

"Why do _you_ sell any?" Darcy asked and crossed her arms in defense.

"You'd be surprised at how many naked people show up claiming alien abduction," Jim responded casually," 'nd people will generally buy a man a pair of pants, if it means, you know, _not_ seeing a naked man."

"You probably charge an arm and a leg for it too, huh?"

"Well that depends."

000

"Alrighty Ves, room number five is ours. I'm not thrilled about it." Darcy opened the Jeep door and helped the weak Loki from the car.

"You said 'no touching,'" he muttered dully.

"Yeah, I know. After this, it will be no touching," she said and walked him across the dirt parking lot, bruised arm slung over her shoulders, to the motel room door. Maneuvering between him and the handle, she managed to get the key in the lock, jiggle the lock, and open the door. "Sit on the chair til you're showered. You'll get a bed dirty, and I don't want to give him a reason to charge me any more money. I'm going to shower first before you destroy the bathroom. Can you manage to sit still and entertain yourself for twenty minutes? Huh, can you, Ves?" She asked, but she didn't actually let him answer. She ran back to her Jeep with some of the last of her energy to grab her duffle bag containing a good chunk of her belongings.

Loki crossed his arms to help cover his bare chest. He was starting to shiver violently—though he didn't know if he could attribute that to the air conditioning or the possible fever coming on. It was possibly a combination of the two. He wasn't used to feeling cold, even when in the coldest of cold realms. It was one of the many feelings he was finding he didn't like.

Darcy rushed back and went straight to the bathroom. Loki could hear her lock the door and start to run the water. "Stupid woman," he sighed, forcing himself to stand and latch the entryway, "doesn't she know to secure the room? There could be a sociopath trying to get in…" When he collapsed once more, the woman had music playing loudly and was 'singing' along with it.

Was it so much to ask for? Just a little bit of peace and quiet? If he had to hear the line, _'somebody that you used to know_,' one more time, he swore he was going to murder her and figure out how to drive one of the mortal vehicles himself.

When Darcy finally exited, wearing nothing buy a tight, black strapless shirt and baggy sweatpants, Loki couldn't help but roll his eyes.

Had he been a lesser man (or at least even remotely interested in mortal women,) he would say that her dress-ware completely contradicted her desire for _'no touching.'_

"It's all yours, Bruises. Hopefully you won't need any help, because I _don't_ plan on going in there," Darcy said and tossed a set of men's clothing to Loki. The jeans, shirt, and pair of undergarments hit him and he was forced to catch them before they fell. He didn't want to bend over to get them. She then flopped onto one of the two beds (the one closest to the door.) She grabbed the remote from the end table, hoping to catch the morning news, but found that the remote didn't work. "Ugh, I don't want to get up, not worth it." She flipped and shut her eyes.

Loki silently walked to the bathroom and shut himself in, happy for quiet that finally befell him. He looked at the amenities before him and scowled. Mortals… why couldn't they just have a large, pool sized bath like in Asgard? Why these tiny little showers?

He worked to find a suitable temperature before stripping out of the Tartanos Prison pants and throwing them promptly into the garbage can.

When he managed to lift his heavy legs into the tub, he actually had to stifle a cry of pain. The hot water felt good (yes scalding) on his cut up skin, but… his skin was _cut up_. Loki swore he felt injuries he hadn't even known he had before the water started invading them. He bit his lip and leaned his fore arms against the slightly-warped plastic wall, lettingthe water do its job and wash as much dirt as it could away.

By the time Loki could suffer standing up-right, he had started evaluating his body. His hands were feeling first—possibly because they were the wounds he had the longest. The burns were still noticible, but more like red welts than full burn bubbles. The cuts from the magic-hindering shards, too, were healing up. Perhaps by the time he left the motel, they would be gone.

He had a nasty gash on his right shoulder blade from his fall that was not yet mending itself. His legs, as well, looked like he got into a fight with a barbed wire spool and lost. It was a wonder he could stand at all.

Loki washed his body with the generic bar of soap already in the shower, thrilled that it didn't smell like the mixture he had grown so accustomed to on Tartanos. The soap was so weak though that it hardly even stung when it went into his wounds, so he made sure to clean extra well.

The shampoo that was supplied by the motel was tiny was smelled unpleasant. So, instead, he used the large blue bottle left behind by Darcy. His hair had grown so long that he needed quite a bit… The thought then crossed his mind to try to cut it himself, since he had always preferred it to be at least a little bit shorter.

_I'm worried about my __hair_? He thought with disgust as he turned off the water, _I've lost all of my special abilities, I'm doomed to die a mortal, I'm a wanted criminal in at least three realms, and my adoptive brother will most likely smash my skull in on sight. And I'm worried about my __hair_?

He dried himself with the off-white towel before putting on his mortal clothing. While he had donned earthware before, he enjoyed the sleek black dress slacks and silky white shirts he wore much more than these… jeans. They were light colored and rough. They were also rather baggy, requiring the worn leather belt he was also given—he chose not to put it on, however, if he was expected to sleep in his jeans. A belt would just be uncomfortable.

When he went to put on the blue tee shirt Darcy bought for him, he found he was not amused.

He was staring at the image of a Chitauri soldier on his shirt. Chitauri. After the beating they gave him and after stealing his powers, he had absolutely no intention of wearing it. "Woman!" He shouted, but then said, "Darcy!"

"I said I wasn't coming in there!" She called back. He threw the door open and held the shirt up.

"I am _not_ wearing this!"

"Beggars can't be cho—"

"Do you have any idea what these _things_ did to me?" Loki spat, pointing at the image, "if you went through what I did, I don't think you could be expected to wear their image upon your chest!"

Darcy looked up from her pillow (she had been sleeping) and stared at him. Her first thoughts were: _'damn, he looks good without all that dirt and blood.'_ Her second thoughts were: _'__**damn, he looks good without all that dirt and blood!'**_"Alright, alright, it was free anyhow. He can't seem to get rid of them so he just threw it in after I threatened to call the cops for him propositioning me. Just sleep without a shirt for now and I will dig something out before we leave."

Loki pursed his lips, debating on whether or not he should continue to argue with her. Finally, he settled on just throwing the shirt at her and shutting out the bathroom light. While she still watched him, he went to the open bed and slowly descended. It was hard work with his still burning cuts.

When he started trying to get beneath the covers, he found it was quite difficult. His body didn't want to move after it hit the soft bed and he suddenly became aware of a throbbing in his head. "For god's sakes!" Darcy snapped in frustration and threw her own covers off. She helped get the covers down and then brought then back up over his shoulders, awkwardly tucking him in. "I feel like I'm fifteen again and babysitting the neighbors…"

She stomped back to her bed and lay down with a _humph!_

Loki crossed his arms and lay rigidly, trying his best to remain on the defense despite the fact that he doubted he had to worry about physical harm from her—perhaps violated, but not assaulted. After all, he recognized the look she had given him only moments before. It was one he had witnessed many women give _Thor_ back in Asgard. They were rather uninterested in the pale skinned, scrawny, younger prince.

For one, single, passing moment, he almost said _'thank you_' to the mortal woman caring for him. His pride, however, got the better of him, and he swallowed the words down before receiving the hands down, best sleep he had had since the last time he visited earth.

000

_Additional Notes(two): wow! 6000 hits! You guys are quickly making this one of the most popular stories I've ever written! Second most reviews, favs, and alerts, and third most hits! It makes me so happy!_

_If any of you are thinking: Darcy, you're such an idiot! How could you be so trusting? Well… we'll get to that, don't worry =P. I was going to handle that matter one way, buttttt I think I've found a better way!_

_In an ideal world, I would love to see if I could get to 100 reviews from this chapter, but I don't think it will happen! If I ever get around to doing art, maybe I will dedicate individual pieces to top reviewers, yeah? Perhaps I will take requests, where the reviewer picks a scene and I try to do that one for the reviewer? Hmm, who knows…_

_Thank you everyone! You've been great!_

_Your humble servant,_

_A_F_


	12. Chapter 12

_Libertas_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing._

_Additional Notes(1): I have only seen the movies and read a few comics. I am receiving information of substance from my resident expert, though he is not Beta reading for me (nor does he actually know I am writing this!) Please bare with me if my story breaks one or all of the existing universes._

000

Loki's body reluctantly woke him due to hunger. When he thought about it, he couldn't actually remember when he last ate. Then it donned on him.

He hadn't had food since before his sentencing—probably since his last time on Earth. His body used to not _need_ sustenance; he ate purely for pleasure. But now he was absolutely ravenous. Loki's stomach growled loudly, catching the ear of an already awake and dressed Darcy.

"What time is it?" He asked and sat up, his eyes adjusting to the light. She was sitting on her bed with the side lamp on, most of her duffle-bag 'unpacked'(thrown about) on her bed.

"9:15. You slept for, like, thirteen hours. I already got gas and some boots for you. Went into town and asked round. A small supply shot had some of the bare necessities. Let me try to bandage you up a little then you can put a shirt and flannel on," Darcy said and went to Loki's side. She helped him pull off the covers again, since he still ached.

Loki didn't bother to fight, instead just sitting up and hunching forward. At one point, he actually grabbed her wrist, holding it away from his wound. "Careful," he hissed, "you're just making it worse, otherwise."

While she didn't scold him, she did glare at him. "Listen, you were the one saying you didn't want our hospitals. I've dumped a great deal of money into you, and I've even given away my charm bracelet to the old couple who sold me your clothes and first aid supplies! Granted, it was from my ex, who I don't really like anymore, but still, it was a nice bracelet! So you either do things my way, or I'll leave right now and dump you off with the creepy motel owner!"

Loki stared at her and he pursed his lips, "…fine."

"Good," she said and went ahead loading up his injuries with a Neosporin-like cream, "besides, I've done this plenty of times with my cousins. They swear they're too tough for hospitals and enjoy making up stories for their battle wounds. Saying you got into a big ol' dirt bike accident is way manlier than saying you through the old garage roof while being a dumbass.

The former god sat silently while Darcy continued to ramble about her family's history of dumb-assness, as if he actually cared. He focused on the grating _noise_ of her voice to ignore the pain he felt in his arms, back, and finally his chest, all of which she certainly made worse.

She had him turn to face her so she could put a great deal of gauze around the upper part of his abdominal section and lower chest. When she fell silent, Loki looked down at her with a raised brow. _Is she actually…blushing?_ He thought and watched her continue to work. _Women, I think, are the strangest of creatures, Asgardian __**or**__ human…_ He sighed and leaned back a bit. _I suppose I should try to enjoy the attention while it lasts…_

"Done," said Darcy, who immediately went back to her bed. "I have this black, men's tee shirt that I usually like to sleep in… Since, you know, you might start bleeding again, maybe you should wear it before the grey or white shirts… here are some new socks… and I've never had to buy men's shoes before, 'cept some chucks for me, so I kinda had to guess. I hope they'll fit at least okay."

Loki nodded but still could not let the words 'thank you' escape his lips. He managed to put his(her) shirt on by himself, mostly because his major wounds were bounds tightly enough that he didn't fear ripping them open with every movement. Darcy handed him a long sleeved flannel to help cover up the rest of his wounds—the ones on his face couldn't be hidden without wearing a _ski-mask. _That wouldn't be conspicuous _at all._

"There's a nearby biker bar. Would you rather come see some earth culture with me or stay in this room?"

For a few moments, Loki considered saying he would just stay. However, the idea of not being stuck within four walls was far too appealing. "Lead the way."

000

The bar they went to was called the Jack Rabbit, apparently because some local hero named Jack had a rabbit tattoo. It was lond and crowded, not just with locals, but also with numerous travelers passing through. Darcy had a hard time trying to convince the lone hostess to give them the last table in the dining section. It was apparently 'reserved' for some local hot shot.

"Miss," Loki said with a sigh, moving past Darcy, "we've had a terribly long trip. It has been a challenge to make it across this forsaken dessert in one piece, as you can probably tell by my condition. I have had a bad accident, and cannot stand for long periods of time as a result. All we would really like is to sit down for a meal, now that we're in safety, before continuing on our way to reach family." The young woman may have been intimidated by his marred face, but she simply melted at his voice and cool words (both which were filled with as much pseudo gentlemanliness as he could stand to muster for the mortal.)

"Well," she said slowly after a moment of thought, "it's not _really_ reserved. It's just something that kinda happened. He doesn't come in all of the time anyhow…" She grabbed two worn menus and led them to the only table left. They received envious glared from many of the patrons, to Loki's pleasure.

"Way to go, Ves!" Darcy exclaimed and slid into the booth.

"Order for me," Loki said, not showing his satisfaction at her praise. "Lots of food. And drink. I never thought I would say this, but I _need_ a drink."

"Okay, so, what do you want?"

"Drinking earth liquor is like drinking piss. It's all going to be bad. Just order whatever you drink," he responded, sliding the menu back to the edge of the table, without even bothering to open it. He slouched down in his seat, trying to relieve some of the soreness in his back. It's not as if he had anyone to impress in that particular dirty bar.

"Right… waitress! Hey, _waitress-ss!" _Darcy waved down one of two servers on duty. The bleached blonde woman did not seem pleased at Darcy's summoning. "Yeah, hi, can we get some drinks? Do you have any specials?"

"Two dollar Miller Lights," the woman, with a name tag reading Cherry, said with almost a sneer.

"Awesome. Two to start, then when they're empty, send us another round."

"Do you want to place an order for food too?" Cherry sighed, tapping her little notepad.

"C'mon, we haven't even had a chance to look at the menu. Can't you come back, in like, I dunno, five minutes?" Darcy said and flipped open her menu. Their selection was rather minimal.

The waitress rolled her eyes and started to walk away, but then Darcy called out again, "wait! I changed my mind. Give us an order of sliders, loaded fries, uhhhh, some wings, and…. What are fried gloashtas?"

"Do you really want to know?"

"Are they any good?"

"A fan favorite around here," Cherry said with a shrug. Darcy looked back and then menu.

"Why not? We'll take a large."

000

Loki ate most of the food. He was so damn hungry that he actually _enjoyed_ what he was tasting. He downed his two beers like they were water before Darcy started ordering him a stronger brew. She tried to slow him down and convince him that he shouldn't consume as much with his wounds, but he ignored her.

"I'm going to run to the bathroom," Darcy said when tired of watching him stuff his face, "I'll grab two more beers on my way back." He waved at her haphazardly, but continued to eat. She shook her head and slid out of the booth.

Darcy did do just as she had said. She went to the ladies' restroom before stopping at the bar. The waitresses had ended their shift and anyone who wanted anything had to go straight to the bar themselves. "Yeah, uh, I'll take a Miller Light and a Yuengling." The bar tender nodded and handed her the bottles, just to have them added to her bill.

When she turned to walk back, she found two men blocking her path. "Hey," said one in a torn, sleeveless shirt, "you're at my table. I think you should move"

She looked at the man then around the rest of the bar, it was rather empty now, with only the locals at the actual bar. "Dude, there are like… eight other tables open. Do you really need ours?"

"It's _my_ table. I sit there every time I come in. So, if you don't want any trouble, just _move."_ After he spoke, the other man put his hand on her shoulder roughly, likely bruising her right away.

"Get your hands off me!"

Loki heard his chauffer snap from his left and turned, wiping his hands on the thin napkins. _I knew she would end up being trouble_, he thought and sighed, forcing himself to stand up, grabbing one of the empty bottles as he did so.

"Pardon me," he said and waved through the tables, "the woman said to remove your hands." The two men turned their attention to him, their tone immediately changing. Where they had been intimidating before, they were now menacing. "Please," Loki added with a condescending smile, "I don't threaten."

The men clearly saw him as a threat, however, and the one with the sleeveless shirt wound up to throw a punch. Loki dodged and broke the beer bottle on the counter. Loki lifted his booted leg and brought it down on the man's slightly bent knee, knocking him down with a cry.

The other man pulled a knife from his back pocket and went to jump in the fight, but Darcy smashed the Miller over the second man's head. He fell to the ground, conscious for a few moments before blacking out. Loki put the broken edge against the sleeveless man's neck. "I told you, I _don't_ threaten."

"Ves, don't hurt him," Darcy said cautiously. Loki raised a brow, still looking down at the vulnerable man.

"Why not? He would not have hesitated to hurt you. Why show him compassion?"

"He's just a dick. C'mon, let's just pay up and head out, okay? I think you're bleeding again anyhow." She wasn't lying. She could see a dark spot forming on the flannel.

Loki was very close to slitting the man's throat, simply for the fun of it. However, it would surely frighten his driver, who would abandon him to these people. He placed the bottle on the counter, took the unbroken Lager, and walked back to his table to grab the left over basket of fries. "I will be in the car."

Darcy looked at the bar tender, who was holding a phone, presumably to call the sheriff. "Uh, sorry about that? He's just… a littler temperamental… He had an accident and he's in a lot of pain and… yeah, how much is my bill?"

She ended up just leaving a one hundred dollar bill to cover their bill and buy the brutish guys a drink to buy them some time. "Thanks a lot…"

When Darcy went back to her Jeep, Loki was, indeed, sitting in the passenger seat, one foot up on the dashboard, finishing his fries before dumping the empty basket out the window. He used his sleeve to help him pop off the cap and started gulping down the Yuengling.

"Jeeze, you didn't need to be so rough in there," Darcy scolded and put her keys in the ignition. "You could've really hurt someone."

"You seemed to be in distress," Loki responded, rolling down his window when he had the chance.

"I—well, maybe I was, I don't know. But you don't need to be so violent. We aren't violent people, here on Earth," said the girl with the taser.

Loki did not continue the conversation. He looked out over the dark desert instead, retreating into his thoughts.

_Not violent people?_ He thought to himself, _if only she knew the__ humanity__ I have seen…_

000

_Additional Notes(two): I have a busy weekend planned with hopefully another viewing of the Avengers. I need to get on making my outfit for Sangawa soon so hopefully I can start wrapping this up… maybe… not likely… I think I still have a while to go yet…_

_Anyhow, thank you all for helping me reach my 100 reviews mark! I only have one other story that has surpassed that and that one has been up for __**years**__. You're all wonderful and I love you dearly!_

_Have a great memorial day weekend, in case I don't get up update for a few days, and stay safe!_

_A _F_


	13. Chapter 13

_Libertas_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing._

_Additional Notes(1): I have only seen the movies and read a few comics. I am receiving information of substance from my resident expert, though he is not Beta reading for me (nor does he actually know I am writing this!) Please bare with me if my story breaks one or all of the existing universes._

000

"Tony? Are you there?" Pepper asked, holding a finger to her ear to try to block out the noise of the airport around her.

"_Yes, I am,"_ he chimed out from the other end of the line. She could tell she was on speaker. _"Where are you? Sounds noisy and unpleasant."_

"Okay, well, I wanted to tell you that I landed in Virginia and I'll be heading to the conference tomorrow. I wanted to go tonight, obviously, but my damned bag got lost. Can you believe that? It had my favorite pair of shoes in it!"

"_The sky high stilettos?"_

"_No_," Pepper said flatly, "the purple ones with the bows! The present from you that I bought myself for Christmas last year."

"_Ri-ght… the stilettos are __**my**__ favorite… wait. It's a private jet. How could they possibly lose your luggage? It's the only bag!"_

"Yeah, I know… it's just a madhouse here. They've opened up the private airfields for everyone who fled the east coast attacks. I had no idea it would be so backed up!" Pepper sighed and saw her driver waving her down. She held up a hand, signaling for him to wait. "Alright, well, I've got to go. I'll call or message or something when I'm at the hotel."

"_Okay, okay… wait! Pepper, aren't you going to say you love me?"_

"Good_bye_, Tony." She disconnected the line and rolled her eyes before marching off to her impatient driver. Now was not the time to mess with an angry redhead.

000

"Did you talk to Pepper?" Bruce asked, walking around his make shift lab.

"_Yeah, she landed. Can't find her bags."_

"Oh, well, that's… weird… Isn't it a private plane?" He sat down and typed a few notes on the S.H.I.E.L.D. supplied computer. "Anyhow, the _attacks_ have almost entirely stopped. I'm wondering if we should return to New York soon."

"_Not enjoying the desert scenery, Green?"_

"I'd rather be useful in New York than here with nothing to do," Bruce responded dryly, "my resources are just too limited here."

"_Yeah, whatever you say._ _Fine, it's settled, I will send the jet while Pepper is at the conference."_

"I'd rather not. You know how I feel about closed environments."

Tony snorted from his side of the line, _"claustrophobic?"_

"I've already talked to S.H.I.E.L.D… Before I come back, I'd like to stop by a lab I'm familiar with and run a couple of tests on this thing, _then_ I will head back to New York for some extra… support," Bruce said and picked up the small sphere. During the cleanup of the lone Chitauri wreckage, Rogers had found the object. To him, it was an oddly un-scuffed glass ball.

To Banner, and more importantly, the Other Guy, it was other worldly. He could tell with one touched that it hummed with some sort of unique energy. Because of what S.H.I.E.L. been willing to do with the Tesseract, Bruce was reluctant to share his thoughts with too many people. He would wait until he had more information—and then destroy it if need be.

"_Alright, whatever. You're not the only one who'd rather be in the lab though, you know."_

"Getting tired of playing hero, Stark?" Bruce said with a smirk.

"_Bored. Call when you have news._" He hung up, leaving Bruce to stare into the glass sphere.

"What _are_ you? Huh? What are your secrets?"

000

"You have spoken with Banner and the Captain then, yes?" Thor asked with a groan as he sat down in their conference room. It had been reconstructed numerous times, but no one would ever guess that.

Most of the windows were either severely damaged or completely shattered. Now, they were hardly more than plastic, since Stark had become annoyed with his constant replacement. Plus, with the city evacuation, he would be forced to do the manual labor himself, and, in all seriousness, he _was_ tired, like Bruce had claimed.

"_Yes_," Stark said and rolled his eyes, "do you people really think I can't be bothered to pick up a phone and call someone when I say I will?" He received raised brows from his two companions in the room. "Yeah, okay, rhetorical questions. Banner: yes. Rogers: no. So-_oo_, this—is—the—city. Or what's left of it at least." He swiveled in his chair and spread his arms to pull up a grid of the remaining city.

"Are they returning? We have been on our own for some time now. We could do well to have more support." Thor continued to press the matter, ignoring Tony's attempt to steer the conversation elsewhere.

"Dunno about Stars and Stripes. Probably. He can't resist laying his life on the line and all. You know, hero, sacrifice, blah blah blah… Bruce is stopping by a lab to look into some Chitauri material. So, city, destroyed—"

"Why do I get the distinct feeling you're not telling us something?" Barton stepped away from one of the broken windows and turned around, his arms across his chest.

Natasha was currently out, trying to argue with S.H.I.E.L.D. for larger rations of food, and, more importantly, ammunition.

Tony watched Barton with intensity, running through a number of scenarios in his head. "JARVIS," he said finally, "I could use some music. Playlist _R_ if you will." The two other men stared at him, thinking (not for the first time) that Stark was a nutcase.

No music played, but there was a faint humming noise.

"Barton, whatever is said now _stays here_." Tony said in complete seriousness.

"Yeah, okay, why would—"

"_Here_. Do **not** relay this to any other party." Stark's eyes burrowed into Hawkeye until he finally caught on.

"Natasha has a right to know whatever—"

"She's too involved with S.H.I.E.L.D. and Fury," Tony said quickly, "you either swear that this information is kept to us three and Bruce, or I go back to my fancy map."

"…fine."

"Good Birdie," the tone immediately lightened up in the broken conference room. "So that odd Chitauri crash site? During clean up, they found some sort of sphere." He waved his right hand to the side, brushing back the grid of Manhattan and pulling up a file on the orb instead. "Initially, no one saw anything too unique about the thing. _But_, our green, muscle-y friend seems to think it's something worthwhile. Banner and I agreed that we weren't going to say much to S.H.I.E.L.D. or Fury about it, considering what they wanted to do with the Tesseract and all. I'm sure you two can agree with that decision as well.

Thor and Hawkeye glanced at one another, shrugging but nodding as well.

"Now, Banner and I figure that the Chitauri started demolishing buildings intentionally around the same time as that uncharacteristically crashed vehicle. We've searched all of the enemy bodies, but nothing unusual has been found. We thing that they have something _actually_ planned. We've all said that their random attacks weren't random. They're definitely up to something. I think, ladies, that we have one promising route to take," Stark finished and leaned back, hands behind his head, waiting for one of the other Avengers to speak.

"Capture," Hawkeye said immediately, "we need one of them alive. We know that they understand us, but how are _we_ supposed to get answers from them?"

"JARVIS has been developing a translation software on his own for a while now, based upon the same principles of dissecting many foreign and tribal languages. We can use him to translate whatever they say to us. I'm sure capturing one can't be that hard. We just need to _not_ kill all of them left on the ground after we close a portal."

"Yes, I think that this would be the most plausible plan we have at the moment. But where will we keep the prisoner once we have one?" Thor asked, glancing around their broken tower.

Tony shrugged.

"_Wellllll_, you haven't seen every part of this place. I might have kept a few—okay, a _lot_ of places off limits to you."

After all, he and Banner had to test on the Other Guy _somehow_ in order to make his serum…

000

"Oh, Miss Potts, I didn't even realize you had left," said the hostess at the front desk of the classy hotel.

Pepper smiled. "I had to run out for a brief moment. I was in such a rush though; I think I dropped my key. I'm exhausted and just want to get back to my room. Can I please be issued a replacement?"

The hostess, a twenty-something named Katie nodded. "Of course, anything for our favorite guest!" The uniformed young woman hurried to get a new electronic key set up, and then handed it off to the red headed woman. "And here you are!"

"Thank you so much, Katie. Have a good night." Pepper abruptly turned and went to the elevator. She pressed the golden button, waited quietly for the door to open, stepped in, then pressed for the 27th floor—the penthouse.

Her smile faded, and she unbuttoned her jacket as well as the first few white buttons on her blouse. Off the elevator she went, down the hallway with only one door, and swiped her card key. The red light turned green, and she entered the prestigious room.

_Didn't even bother to latch…_

Pepper locked the deadbolt and the latch, her eyes narrowing. The shower was running in the next room over, with a woman singing AC/DC loudly.

Slinkering in the room, she glanced around, seeing no suitcases but a long suit on the bed, and then went to the bathroom door. She reached out to open it, hoping to surprise whoever was inside, but heard the water turn off. Pepper hesitated and then withdrew her hand. She steadied herself and waited for the other woman to exit instead.

When she did, a toweled red head was shocked to be looking at herself. She was completely stunned by the dry, suited Pepper. They looked exactly identical—but there was one difference that set the wet Pepper from her supposed twin.

The other one had brown eyes.

000

_Additional Notes(two): sorry for the delay! I became super busy this weekend! I really needed to take some time to work on some costume things for Sangawa, then I had some Slenderman related work to do too. Busybusybusy._

_Hopefully I will get the next chapter out quicker! If you would like to see a shorter turn over time, please send me lots of reviews!_

_Thank you to those of you who have managed to stick with me so far! I appreciated it!_

_A_F_


	14. Chapter 14

_Libertas_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing._

_Additional Notes(1): I have only seen the movies and read a few comics. I am receiving information of substance from my resident expert, though he is not Beta reading for me (nor does he actually know I am writing this!) Please bare with me if my story breaks one or all of the existing universes._

000

Loki and Darcy left the morning after their bar scene. The woman had to pull the covers off of him in the morning, to receive a rather unpleasant surprise.

"Ew! Dude! Why aren't you wearing pants?"

Loki peeked over his pillow and growled before grabbing his other pillow and pulling it over his head. He still had the light sheet covering him, so it wasn't as if she could tell whether or not he was completely pant-less. "_Jeans_ are uncomfortable," he said, his voice muffles from the pillows.

"Well put them back on! We've got to leave or else I'm going to be hit with late checkout fees!" When he didn't budge, she sighed and reached out to one of his bandaged wounds. "At least let me change these—"

Loki yelped at her prodding, lurching away from her and reflexively swinging the top pillow roughly at her head. She had enough time to cover her face before it collided with her, sending her toppling off the edge of the bed. While she groaned from the floor, he scrambled to put his jeans on. "I do _not_ appreciate being prodded like cattle!"

"I don't appreciate being hit in the face! I was just checking to see if you stopped bleeding! Stop acting like a brat and let me cut the bandages off!"

The former god snapped his mouth shut at the term 'brat' and sat back down on the bed. Darcy took that as a sign and went to get her small scissors.

Loki had thought that all mortals (especially women) to be… compliant—obedient. However, his chauffer yelled at him as much as Odin had when he was a child. She even used the same term: brat.

He was immediately pulled from his thoughts when he felt the cool metal of her cutting tool moving under the bandage. Darcy gingerly removed the worn gauze from his chest, throwing it right away, into the nearby trash bin.

"I guess you have some sort of… magical healing power or something," she said thoughtfully, touching a few areas that had pretty much closed up over night. "You're still injured, but this should've taken weeks to heal. You'll probably scar, but hey, scars are sexy."

Loki looked over at her with her last comment, a brow raised. She blushed and laughed awkwardly, in a high pitch, false tone. She refused to meet his eyes and furiously buried herself in re-bandaging his current wounds.

"How long until we get to Thor?" Loki asked and stood, checking the tightness of his wrappings.

"Depends on how fast I drive, I guess. It's like a twenty-five hour drive or something from here, I think, so we might have to stop for two nights. We'll be in New York by night three, unless something big stops us. I'm packed. Toss on a shirt and let's get on the road!" Darcy jumped up, snatching her duffle bag from her bed.

Loki watched as she walked righ tout the door, leaving him a few moments of privacy. When he was sure that she wouldn't simply burst back through, he carefully reached beneath his bed to withdraw a rather large pocket knife.

So maybe his attack on the bar thug hadn't had purely noble intentions behind it.

He just couldn't handle the idea of being in a world filled with mortals he had tried to kill without even a slight form of defense. Into his pocket it went, stashed away for safekeeping. Loki put on a clean, grey shirt (Darcy had already taken back the black,) slipped on his socks and shoes, then prepared himself for the long, inevitably loud car ride ahead of him.

They drove for almost twelve straight hours, stopping only for food and restrooms. Darcy was, apparently, the queen of cross country road trips. She had traveled nearly every summer with her parents then her friends in her college years. It was almost a hobby of hers.

Loki couldn't complain about the lack of space. He had spent so much time in _prison_ that he would probably have a harder time going for a run than sitting for half a day.

When they finally chose a motel to take an overnight hiatus at, Loki went in with Darcy to pay. The woman doing the booking gave them an annoyed look and made a remark about putting them far away from other patrons to keep noise complaints to a minimum.

"How thoughtful," Darcy commented as they left the entryway, "now we can have all of the noisy, raunchy, illegal sex we want without _bothering_ anyone."

"Good," Loki said without missing a beat, "because we both know how _loud_ you are." He smiled back at the receptionist before pulling the door shut with a rough _slam!_

"I hope you were kidding…" Darcy said as they exited and started up the stairs outside.

"As if I know anything your sex life, woman," Loki replied, waving her off. She stared at him for a few moments. " 'As if I know anything of your sex life, _Darcy._'"

"Much better. Look at you, making a joke. I think you're warming up to me," she laughed as they reached their door. It was on the second floor and at the _far_ end of the motel.

"No," Loki replied quickly, "I just naturally have a sense of humor. When you're captured and beaten by the Chitauri and forced to crash land on earth, the opportunity for tomfoolery is minimal. It has nothing to do with _you_."

"You're a real lady killer, aren't you Ves?"

"…"

000

"Just try it," Darcy insisted.

"No, I don't want it," Loki said, stepping away from the woman. "I just want a drink."

"Is that all you do? Drink? _Take it._ I'll pick you up a six pack on the way back."

The pair had gone to a cheap diner for dinner. It had been quiet, but Loki had managed to drive the waitress up a wall with all of his questions. When she finally away, he admitted to Darcy that he found the waitress's accent to be humorous.

When they left, an ice cream parlor down the block was just getting ready to close. Darcy sprint in and bought two ice cream cones—chocolate for her and strawberry for him. He refused to take the sweet treat.

"Twelve pack," he bargained, "six is not enough if we split."

"What are you? A raging alcoholic?"

"My people drink a lot, it's practically water," Loki shrugged and shoved his hands in his pockets, shifting back and forth on the balls of his feet. Darcy rolled her eyes.

"I have to drive anyhow. You can have five, and I will have one, okay? Take the damned ice cream cone! It's melting on me!"

Loki hadn't wanted a dozen—he had wanted four, so he of course shot out a high number. He took the ice cream and continued walking towards their motel, leaving Darcy behind. She mumbled, "jerk," and ran to catch up with his long strides.

They easily stuck out in the area. He was over six feet tall, with long-ish black hair, and some bandages sticking out from his cuffed up flannel. She was quite a bit shorter and waving an ice cream cone around. After a few moments of awkward silence (she could tell he was thinking deeply,) he spoke. "Why did you pick me up in the desert? I could've been a treat to you, yet you didn't hesitate to care for me." He was clearly puzzled, and Darcy was _sure_ he had been trying to work out her rationale in his head.

"Most people would think I'm crazy," Darcy said with a smile, "but you're just like Thor. He fellfrom the sky, and we helped him then too. If we hadn't, maybe our town would have been leveled. Maybe the Avengers wouldn't have been formed. Maybe the Chitauri would've won, what, a year ago? It's like the butterfly that caused a hurricane. One person's actions, or, you know, _not_ actions, could mean the difference between life and death

You could've died, but I thought it was better to help you. You're alone in an unfamiliar world. What is someone bad had found you first?" She sighed and won't back to eating her ice cream cone. "Plus," she muttered, "sure as hell worked out for Jane…"

Loki intentionally took his time finishing his treat—just so he didn't have to speak. She was surely expecting a _thank you_, but he **couldn't** do it. They caught in his throat when he tried, and all that came out was a, 'mmm,' and a nod in understanding.

As promised, Darcy picked up a six pack of _something_. She nursed one for a while. Loki didn't bother holding back. By the time he hit number three, he was forced to slow down. Apparently, his mortal body had some limits.

"I don't understand," he said, pointing at the screen they were watching, "it these pirates have guns, why do they insist on fighting with swords? Why don't people push their enemies overboard? When they're swinging around, why don't they cut the rope?"

"Well, because! We wouldn't have an entertaining movie if they did that stuff!" Darcy said, frustrated. All he had done was complain or question everything she put on the TV. Picking up the remote, she started flipping for something he _wouldn't_ complain about. She settled on the news when she saw the 'LIVE' scroll across the top.

"—_yes Maggie, I'm here at a local motel where a wanted criminal has been spotted. He has a woman with him, but we have not received her identity. Additionally, forces are unable to determine if she's a hostage or an accomplice. A trail has been left behind of bills in her name but—wait! The SWAT force is getting ready to move in—"_

"… that, uh, looks an awful lot like our motel… I'm pretty sure that's Cheryl parked there—" Darcy said slowly, suddenly becoming aware of her situation tensing up.

As she turned to look at Loki and question her traveling companion, the SWAT lights were in their window and their door was kicked open.

"Don't move or we'll shoot!"

000

_Additional Notes(two)_: _forgive the delay in updating. Work has been catching up to me. I also had to take a little bit of time to do SlenderStuff, costume stuff, and, well, work stuff. Hopefully, I still have some readers out there! Please let me know what you think!_

_Thanks everyone! A_F_


	15. Chapter 15

_Libertas_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing._

_Additional Notes(1): I have only seen the movies and read a few comics. I am receiving information of substance from my resident expert, though he is not Beta reading for me (nor does he actually know I am writing this!) Please bare with me if my story breaks one or all of the existing universes._

000

Pepper's purple heels clicked as she walked down the hallway of the remaining stArk tower. It had taken some convincing, but she had managed to talk S.H.I.E.L.D. into letting her back into New York. She was an essential part of the Stark side of the Avengers team. They escorted her to the building, and immediately vacated the area when she assured them that she would be fine with Tony's protection.

So, she pressed the button on the elevator, heading to the top ten floors.

As she stood idly by, tapping her foot with crossed arms, a voice called out to her from behind. "Pepper! You're early! Man, I was really sure S.H.I.E.L.D. was just saying that so they could get at me for that 'accidental' demolition of Hammer's building… I came down here in my suit and everything…" Iron Man landed, immediately retracting his helmet as he started walking up to the red head.

Pepper turned around, a hand to her chest, "oh, Tony, you scared me. It's been a tense ride into the city."

"Well, yeah, I've rigged explosives through most of the city… Anyhow, why _are_ you back? I thought you had the conference, then, you know, that other conference in Paris. Besides it's too dangerous here. You know we're due for another attack any night now," Tony said and approached her. He reached out and hit the elevator button a few more times.

"You know that no matter how many times you hit that, it's not going to go any faster, right?" Pepper asked, raising a brow.

"Amazing, you even sound like her…" He muttered as the doors opened for them.

"What was that?"

Tony coughed and stepped in with the woman, "I said, amazing, I missed even the sound of your voice. How was the conference?"

"About the same as always, except with more people. Of course, now that we're completely out of the arms business, the Chitauri attacks have caused business support for local militias. There weren't many of us fighting for opposition. We aren't too concerned. The government isn't going to bend, no matter how many corporations push for it," Pepper replied with a sigh. She waited for Tony to press one of the buttons, but he didn't do a thing. Pepper reached out and pressed for one of the top floors.

"You're not heading to the office?"

"Oh, well, I actually have to get something for S.H.I.E.L.D. They think it could help the defense of the defense position. Against the militia."

Tony nodded and clasped his hands in front of him. "JARVIS, put on my playlist." Immediately, Black Sabbath started playing. From the corner of his eye, he watched Pepper, who didn't even flinch at the loud music.

Not a single thin lipped frown. Not a tap of the foot. Not a, _'Tony, you can't play this in the tower elevator!'_

The door opened and Pepper stepped out, walking into the research lab. Tony followed after her, "so, what are you looking for? For S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

"It's, uh, a small ball, kind of?" Pepper replied and held up her hands in the approximate size, "it's some sort of glass or crystal. They said you have it, but it's too dangerous here. Could get broken."

"Uh… huh…" Tony said slowly, raising his right arm, "Pepper?"

"Yeah?" She said and started to turn around. He let loose a small energy blast at one percent power. It hit her square in the chest, and she flew backwards, across one the black topped lab islands, and crashed onto the floor, out of sight.

000

"Please tell me I am not the only one who just saw Stark shoot Pepper across the room." Natasha stared at the security camera they had pulled up on the screen when Tony took off out the window.

"Ohhh, this is not good," Steve muttered before taking off for the stairs. Natasha, Clint, and Thor went for the elevator. The trio reached the research lab at the same time as the Captain.

There was a round of, "Tony!" and "Stark!"

"Stay back," Tony replied without even looking at them, "something is up. That isn't Pepper."

"What are you _talking_ about?" Steve asked, his voice dripping with disbelief. He vaulted over the island and helped up the woman from the ground, "this is _Pepper_! _Our _Pepper!"

"First of all," Stark readied another blast from his suit, "she is _my_ Pepper, well, not her, I mean, if that **were** Pepper, she would be mine, but that's not! That's not Pepper!"

"And second of all?" Clint asked, "what's the second?"

"Oh, right, her shoes! Look! She's wearing her favorite purple shoes with the bows! Her bags were lost on the way to the conference, and her shoes were in her bags!" Tony insisted, "let her go, or I will shoot you too, Rogers."

The entire room stared at the almost fully Tony Stark. Finally, Steve spoke up. "You're shooting at her because of her… _shoes_? Come _on_, Stark, have you lost your mind?"

"No," Natasha cut in, "he's right. It isn't Pepper Potts."

"What are you talking about?" Said the injured Pepper, "someone, help me, I'm injured. I think I'm bleeding. Yes, definitely bleeding…"

"I do this for a living," snapped the former Russian, stepping forward, withdrawing a knife from her pocket, "that is _not_ Pepper Potts." She did not hesitate to throw the blade directly at the other woman's head. Before Steve could try to move her aside, Pepper's hand shot out, catching the knife only centimeters from her right eye.

The imposter flipped the knife, catching the handle, and taking a swing at the Captain. She slashed at his throat, but he jumped back. She continued slashing moving forward to stay in his vicinity, so that Tony couldn't try to shoot her again. Risking a deep wound to his hands, Steve eventually tried to grab his attackers' hands.

He succeeded, only to be sharply kicked in the stomach. As he keeled over (he was not comfortable fighting a woman,) Tony upped his percentage output and shot the fake Pepper in the back. She stayed down for just a moment before picking herself back up and tossed the blade back at Natasha, who was pretty much the only person feeling comfortable enough to go head to head with the imposter.

The two red heads collided and ended up the floor, going straight for the throat and nerves. The men watched tensely, though Steve was still on the ground. "I would find this oddly attractive, if, you know, someone wasn't pretending to be Pepper and they weren't trying to kill each other," Tony muttered as the Black Widow fought to keep the imposter on the ground. After a few tries to knock her opponent out, Natasha resorted to trying to strangle Pepper.

As she held her strong, thin hands against 'Pepper's' throat, the men suddenly became fully aware that Natasha had a bloodlust that none of them could possibly match.

The fake Pepper writhed around, trying to pry Natasha's hands off of her neck, but to no avail. After a few moment of gasping, she went limp. The group watched as the red hair faded away. The woman's skin shifted, revealing a marred complexion, and a messy black mane. "I think you can let her go, Nat," Barton muttered, carefully placing a hand on her shoulder, feeling the tension throughout her body. "If you don't suffocate her, we can question her."

"He's right, we prepared a room for the Chitauri questioning, but it might be better suited for her. She's _strong_," Rogers coughed from the ground, pulling himself up, a hand approximately where his kidney was.

000

As the SWAT team burst into their motel room, Darcy turned to look at Loki. As she made eye contact, she saw something that she had not noticed beforehand. There was a glint in his eyes that terrified her. And she realized that every hint he had dropped about her being too trusting was completely true.

'Ves' leapt across the space between their beds, grabbing her by the hair and pulling her up so that she could not run. He snapped out the large switchblade, holding it against her throat. "So sorry, _Darcy_," he hissed, "I wish things had been different. You're actually a rather lovely girl, especially for a _mortal_ girl. I can now see how Thor changed so rapidly. Had I not been reminded that I am, in fact, a wanted war criminal, you might have been able to change me."

"Ves," Darcy shrieked, "Ves, what are you doing? I helped you! I saved you!"

It was funny. She had thought of all of the horror movies she had seen when she first pulled him from the desert. She had planned everything she would do in the event that he turned out to be a psychopath. She had _not_ planned for what she would do if/when her rescuee turned out to be a wanted criminal.

Loki awkwardly dragged Darcy backwards, towards the bathroom door.

"We _will_ shoot," shouted one of the SWAT members, "stand down and we will accept your surrender. Continue to move, and we _will shoot._" Loki, of course, ignored the mortals completely. He pulled her towards the bathroom. They still held off.

"Shut the door," he hissed into her ear, as he hit the sink. Darcy hesitantly pulled the door shut. "I really am sorry. If I hadn't been grateful, I would have probably killed you already. Stand there like a good girl, and don't move, you'll be fine." The door shut, and he turned around to force the window open.

"I—I shouldn't help you! You've done nothing for me! You've ruined me!" Darcy said, starting to shake uncontrollably.

Loki looked over his shoulder, a small smile dancing on his lips. "It certainly isn't too late for me to still kill you." Darcy frowned and slumped against the door.

Hopping up on the toilet seat, Loki forced the screen out and looked around. There was a ledge, but it was still a three story drop. Well, he had crash landed on earth. He felt he could handle it. Loki maneuvered himself out and balanced himself on the ledge. "Darcy," he said casually. She looked up at him, her jaw clenched tightly, "thank you." She only glared at him while he let himself jump down. He hit the ground with a hard thud and a great deal of pain. "Hmm, easier than I thought." He was, of course, referring to jump, and not the 'thanks.'

For a moment, Loki believed that he had a chance to escape. He believed that he could make a run for it and disappear into the crowd. There were no police or SWAT members around the back of the motel. Perhaps they thought that there was no way he would be able to escape from a third floor window.

So, he started running as fast as his injured body would allow him. And, of course, he found out why, exactly, they had not bothered to place any security around the back of the building.

He had found out roughly, when a big green arm threw him to the ground, with a big green body following.

000

_Additional Notes(two): thank you everyone for your kind reviews! I had worried about the review count for chapter 13, but the review count for chapter 14 helped me get my inspiration back! So when I say I really rely on your feedback, you can see that it's true. Your reviews made me want to update again!_

_Also, I do not know if I will ever be targeted by Critics United, but I do have all of my documents backed up! I hope my story won't ever be taken down though! I don't think I'm breaking any rules! _

_Thanks everyone,_

_I love you all dearly!_

_A_F_


	16. Chapter 16

_Libertas_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing._

_Additional Notes(1): I have only seen the movies and read a few comics. I am receiving information of substance from my resident expert, though he is not Beta reading for me (nor does he actually know I am writing this!) Please bare with me if my story breaks one or all of the existing universes._

000

"Well, boys and girls, when it rains, it _pours_." Tony waltzed into the observation room dropping into one of his favorite brands of swivel chairs.

"It hasn't rained in over a month, Stark," Hawkeye answered, sliding away from Natasha. Apparently, the imposter woman had really rattled her, leaving Clint to try and calm her down again. "It's a side effect of the portal missile."

"Yeah. I know that, I designed them—"

"No," the Captain cut in from the door, "Bruce designed them. You just produced them."

"Speaking of our green friend," Tony said loudly, annoyed at the interruptions, "he's currently escorting another prisoner here. Additionally, I should be getting a phone call any moment now, confirming that the real Pepper is safe and sound in her hotel room, with a broken phone." Though he was trying to mask it, he was actually quite worried he would be hearing otherwise. He knew something was wrong. He could feel it. But he had to give S.H.I.E.L.D. at least a chance before he went ahead and beat the impersonator into a bloody pulp.

"Who's the other prisoner?" Clint asked, brows furrowed.

"Give you one clue: Thor rushed off to escort him back here with Banner."

"Loki."

"Loki."

"Definitely Loki."

"Yup. And apparently, he's in pretty bad shape. A woman named Darcy picked him up in the middle of the desert, at that lone crash site. She's a friend of Jane Foster's, and an acquaintance of Thor's. She apparently didn't know who Loki was, and was bringing him straight to us, at his own insistence," Tony replied, spinning around, staring down at his phone, hoping his willpower would make the phone ring.

"She has to be lying," claimed Steve as he leaned against the doorframe. "How could anyone _not_ know that they have Loki in their passenger seat?"

"We didn't exactly disclose his identity," replied Natasha, "we cut any footage of him as we caught it, since what he _wanted_ was for everyone to see him. He is also known for being very convincing. It's why they had him muzzled when Thor took him home—so he couldn't talk his way to freedom. He probably didn't have much trouble manipulating a kind hearted, albeit stupid girl, who knew Thor fell from the sky."

Natasha was possibly the single most understanding person when it came to being aware of Loki's smooth talking abilities. It was hard to get into her mind and hit trigger points, but he had no problem. It had taken everything she had to try to remain cool when she last encountered him one on one.

Finally, it seemed as if Tony's urging paid off, and the phone finally rang, playing the Twilight Zone theme when he received a call from Director Fury. "Yeah, hi, so how is she? Can you just put her on?"

"_She's not here,"_ Nick Fury said over the line, _"Tony, she's gone. There are signs of a struggle. Blood. We've already run it—it's Pepper's. We don't know how, but someone took her from this room. We don't know where she is, but most times, the victim is alive and—"_

Tony didn't bother to continue listening. He disconnected the line and left it on the counter. "Stay," he commanded dangerously and pressed the button to open the air locked door. It slid open, and he entered, not waiting to stalk straight towards the center of the room (built to hold the Hulk,) where the dark haired captive was retrained in a metal chair.

"_Hey_," he hissed, kicking her leg, "where's Pepper."

The prisoner twitched and opened her eyes, looking up at Tony. She fidgeted in her seat, as if something were bothering her. She licked her lips and tried to focus on him, "what time is it?"

"It's three in the morning," Tony responded, his jaw clenching, "now, one last time before I start getting creative with my gadgets. Where is Pepper?"

"It doesn't matter," the former Pepper impersonator whispered, "it's too late for me." She continued to twitch as if trying desperately to crack her neck. She struggled against her bounds, but not hard enough to make it appear that she wanted to escape—more like she was trying to itch her arms.

"What's that mean?" He spoke relatively calmly, but only for a moment, "you're not dead yet. I haven't killed you. You still have a chance to give me Pepper, and live a life behind bars, you know, _alive._"

The woman suddenly slumped forward, her head hanging limply. Natasha could be heard over the intercom, "Stark, what happened? What did you do?"

"I—nothing! I mean, come on, I would've let you do the torturing!" He backed up, aware from the woman. The door opened from behind him, and Black Widow hurried in. She knelt down in front of her and cautiously lifted the dark haired head.

Natasha looked at her eyes, which were half opened and heavily lidded. "Something's wrong with her eyes. The veins, they're black. It's strange, but—chto za huy!" She dropped the limp head and jumped up. "Her skin! It moved! Under my hand! Like something was crawling!"

"She's faking!" Tony shouted, pushing past Natasha, "come on! Wake up! Say something! Where's Pepper? What have you done with her?" He shook the dark haired woman's shoulders roughly, sending her head rolling around like a rag doll. "_What have you done with Pepper?"_ He would up and backhanded her across the cheek. Her head went to the side so hard that it eventually just hung back, and he could see right into her somewhat brown eyes.

Natasha was right. Where the veins should have been red, they were black, and almost pulsing. Even around her brown irises, black was starting to take over. As Tony stared down at her, he could see something move under her skin. Tentatively, he raised his hand once more, holding it in front of her slightly ajar mouth. There was shallow, uneven breathing. "I don't think she's faking," said Natasha. "She was serious when she said, 'I'm out of time.'"

"I'm going to go scan footage and see if I can find any clue to Pepper's disappearance. Leave her restrained until Banner gets in. He can look at her."

Tony turned on his heel, his head down to avoid looking at Natasha.

000

Thor hated flying in the human crafted machines. The only person who hated them more than him was Bruce, who was sitting right next to him. They stared down Loki, seated opposite of them, waiting for him to make some sort of tricky move. But the god of mischief could do no such thing.

Loki was so heavily sedated that he could barely keep his eyes open. "Your hair," he slurred to Thor, "it used to be blonde… like… yellow. It's Earth isn't it? It's turned your hair… not yellow. I better leave. It will turn my skin blue…" Needlessly to say, the drugs were taking their toll. S.H.I.E.L.D. had not been made aware of his fragile, mortal state when they needled him.

"He's acting rather… odd," the Asgardian said to his partner in a low whisper.

"We gave him enough to keep _you_ seated. We wanted to question him. This is the most coherent he's been," Banner answered with a shrug.

"And Darcy? She is fine?"

"Upset, but unhurt. It seems he lied about his identity to keep her from catching on to him. She even slept in the same room as him without incident. As far as we can find, he hasn't done anything wrong, besides escaping the SWAT team. All we know is that he was on his way to see you." Bruce had gone with the SWAT team as back up and had literally done so, in the back of the motel.

He was insurance, in case Loki had something up his sleeve. Well, Loki hadn't, and the Hulk was disappointed when his 'toy' took one hit and was down. Becoming bored, Bruce didn't have any problem taking back control once more.

"Loki," Thor boomed, catching his loopy brother's attention. "How did you escape Tartanos? Why have you returned to Earth?"

"The Chitauri… are foul creatures," Loki sighed, "the Chitauri just like to take… they took the crystal… they took me… they took my powers…"

"So this _is_ the Chitauri's doing—wait. What was that? You… you don't have… but how can you…?"

"Impotent," the dark haired 'god' started chuckling, "like that Stark said… an impotent god!" He continued to chuckle, his head lolling back and forth before he sighed and slumped forward, a miserable frown plastered to his face. "I think… I will just… sleep."

"No, no! Wake up! Banner! Make him wake up!" Thor reached out and shook his adoptive brother, hoping to disturb his drug induced slumber.

"I can't," Bruce replied, "he's on a heavy sedative. You'll just have to wait until it runs through his body and he wakes up on his own. He'll probably feel like crap, like the worst hang over you could imagine." The sedative was actually derived from the one that Bruce used to immediately calm his heart rate when it started to increase too much, and he knew how he felt after he received a heavy dosage.

Thor reluctantly sat back in his seat and crossed his arms. "Why does everything seem to happen at once?"

000

The S.H.I.E.L.D. aircraft landed on stArk tower's landing pad. Bruce and Thor dragged a still sleeping Loki down into the broken building, taking him directly to the same holding room as the other prisoner. They had nowhere else to really keep the fallen god.

They restrained him in a similar chair, across the room from the almost /mostly dead captive woman. He was monitored from behind a mirrored window. "We will wait until he awakens, then we will question him," Thor declared as he finished tightly securing his brother.

"He may not have left a bloody trail behind, but he surely knows something," Rogers said with a self-certain nod. "Hopefully he can tell us—"

He didn't get the chance to finish. There was a loud eruption from nearby the building, causing a slight shudder throughout the tower. "Chitauri," Hawkeye called out over the intercom. "We have to worry about the captives later. Another portal to shut."

The group known as the Avengers rushed around to get ready, hurrying to get out to the battlefield that was New York City. They wanted to salvage as much as possible. The team dived right into battle in the dawn light.

Well, all except for Tony Stark.

He was a self centered genius with an attention that could borderline compulsive. He couldn't care less about the destruction of the city, or his tower.

He was too focused on finding _his_ Pepper.

000

_Additional Notes(two): sorry for a not so great chapter guys. I've been super tired these past few days, but you all sent me such wonderful reviews that I wanted to post before the weekend. I had a stressful week, but your reviews helped me feel so much better! Thank you all! _

_I am likely expecting this story to go for another ten chapters or so… If you keep me motivated, it will turn out better!_

_Thank you everyone!_

_A.F_


	17. Chapter 17

_Libertas_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing._

_Additional Notes(1): I have only seen the movies and read a few comics. I am receiving information of substance from my resident expert, though he is not Beta reading for me (nor does he actually know I am writing this!) Please bare with me if my story breaks one or all of the existing universes._

000

"We could've used some help out there, Stark," Hawkeye snapped as he collapsed into one of the conference room chairs. Natasha rushed to his side with their advanced first aid kit. He had a horrendous gash down right forearm. Depending on how deep it really was (which was deep,) and how it would heal (probably not well,) it could mean the difference between his bow and gun as his primary weapon.

Tony didn't even glance up from his holographic screen, which was quickly going through all of the video footage from Pepper's hotel. It was in his nature to be slightly compulsive and attentive to detail—with her disappearance, his compulsion raised, and he could not possibly be pulled away from his task. "You had the Hulk," he said flatly, hardly paying attention to his own words, "he may not have my grace but he has the power."

"That was the biggest horde we've had to deal with," Natasha said, starting to clean the wound. "We know you want to find Pepper, but you can't forsake the rest of the world for her."

"She _is_ my world," Tony snapped—almost snarled, "if she's gone, then I couldn't care less about the rest of the world!"

The two master assassins looked at one another before turning away quickly. They didn't bother to respond to him, because, honestly, they were selfish enough to know how he felt.

After a quick cough to regain his composure, Tony said, "so, where's the rest of our super squad?"

"They're with the prisoners. Or, you know, prisoner and no longer alive prisoner."

000

"You left me… in a room… with a dead girl," said Loki in a sneer, covering up his rising uneasiness. It took him only a moment to recognize the changeling girl who had helped him escape. Had they caught her? Tortured her? Were they the ones to kill her? Had the Avenger team gone so far as to start murdering their prisoners? Could he be next? "This is disgusting. I think she's starting to smell."

In walked Thor, Steve, and Bruce, all visibly tense. The two earth natives walked to the female, ignoring Loki completely. "She's alive. Somehow," Bruce muttered, placing a hand to her neck to feel for a pulse, "it's so weak. There are probably some people out there who would say to just call it now… Take her to my lab. I'm not much of a medical doctor, but we should take a look at her anyhow."

"First thing to do is to find out what she is," Rogers replied as he unbound her and lifted her petite, limp body from her seat. She was a lot heavier than she looked.

"Well we know what she is," Bruce said, shoving his hands back into his pockets and heading to the door (and avoiding Loki's eyes,) "she's like the rest of us. Different." Hunching his shoulders, Bruce immediately left the room, not wanting to be around Loki any more than he had to be.

Steve glanced over at the other prisoner, scoffed, and followed after Bruce to deliver him his latest specimen.

The door slid shut behind him, leaving Loki alone with his adoptive brother. Thor had been silent while the other two had come in to handle their business. When they left, he walked behind Loki's chair, quickly leaned him back roughly slid the entire chair forward towards the now open chair in the middle of the room, and then double checked Loki's bounds.

"What are you _doing_," Loki asked, shaking his head. He was still feeling ill from his sedatives, so when Thor manhandled him, his world started spinning. Walking around to the chair, Thor sat down and leaned forward, staring intently at Loki. It made the frost giant rather uncomfortable. "I imagine you look at all your girls this way before you bed them, yes?"

"Are you really mortal, brother? Have you truly lost your powers?"

Loki recognized Thor's expression. It was one had had received all of his life, usually when he was overlooked because of his brother, or at the receiving end of his torment. It was pity. But not the '_I truly sympathize with your situation,' _or _'I care enough about you to be upset for you,'_ it was, _'you are weaker than me, and now I feel I must protect you from the world.'_

_That _was why he had come to hate being pitied so much.

"… I'm still smarter than you'll ever be," Loki muttered, pursing his lips and looking to the side.

"You know, you like to play all grown up, but you still act so much like a child," Thor said and shook his head. He sat back and put his head on his hand. "What are you doing here?"

Loki put his head back and sighed, trying to relieve the dizziness. "You know, enjoying the sights. Isn't that what you did when _you_ became mortal?"

"I defended a town from being destroyed by you."

"Ah, right, I had forgotten, sorry about that by way. Really, I am. I mean, to think, had I succeeded, I might have died out in the desert… How _is_ Darcy, by the way?" Loki smiled smugly back at his adoptive brother. He knew that it was supposed to be an interrogation, but it gave him some sort of twisted pleasure to annoy Thor.

"She's fine," Thor replied quickly. "Upset. Paranoid. She feels betrayed. S.H.I.E.L.D. is still holding her, and probably will for a while. They do not believe that she didn't know who you were. She is a prisoner of the government. Her plans to continue her education and become, 'the world's coolest poli-sci teacher,' will likely never happen, now. Do you feel any remorse?"

Loki inhaled, furrowed his brows, and appeared deep in thought. "No. I can't say that I do. She was a fool. Though she did deliver on her promise. She said she would bring me to you. And she did."

"And what did you hope to do to me? Without your powers? Are you a spy for the Chitauri? Like the woman?"

"No," Loki snorted, "couldn't be further from the truth. The Chitauri kidnapped me from Tartanos. Tortured me and imprisoned me. They took my powers. Now, they're planning on bringing the device here, to use on someone on Earth. There are only two logical choices, of course."

"So you came to help us?" Thor asked, not hiding his disbelief.

"Well no, I want my powers back. But means to an end, yes? If I come here and help in your fight, then maybe I reverse the process, and eliminate my status of enemy of Earth. Simple." Of course, that hadn't been his plan in the least, but neither had been getting caught by the Avengers, who had already beaten him once before, while he had actually had powers.

"Your actions caused the death of hundreds of people and the invasion of this realm. You think that we would allow you to walk in here, do some good deeds, and then give you back your powers?" Thor's voice started to lose its even tone to his temper. While he had been working on not letting his anger get to him, his brother always seemed to bring out the worst.

"Of course not. That's why I was having the girl take me to you. I thought for sure you would kill me on sight. I'm actually quite surprised to be alive right now. So, what say you, _brother_, will you keep me here, chained like a dog, or will you let me be of some use?" Loki relaxed and stared back at Thor.

"That is not my decision to make," the Asgardian replied and stood. "I will relay your story to the others. But it is their world, and their city, and it is their decision. Do not get hopeful, _brother_. You have wronged many people in this world. They are not quick to forgive, mortal or not."

000

"What am I supposed to do with you?" Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose, walking around the table that was cleared off for the female prisoner. On the outside, she had a few fresh injuries, clearly as a result of Stark's attack. While they should've been fatal for most people, her body proved to be sturdy—resilient. Besides that, she was covered in scars of all shapes.

"I can't exactly try to cut you open. That will probably kill you… It has to be internal. There are no outward signs of a fatal injury… so what could it be?" The scientist stared down at the marred body, running over whatever possibility he could think of in the silence of the room. "Stark should be the one to do this. He would be better at this."

He gazed off, slightly lost in his thoughts, until he was brought back to his senses by a miniscule movement. Blinking, Banner focused in at her face, trying to see what caused the movement. Was it one of her scars? No. He jumped when he saw her skin… crawl. Tentatively, he reached out and felt for the—"what the—"

Bruce tilted her head, following the movement down her cheek, past her jaw, down her neck… He maneuvered her over so that she was face down and then moved her hair. "_What the hell is __**that**__?" _There was a black, gelatin substance leaking from a vicious looking hole on the back of her neck. He grabbed a sterile cloth and tried to wipe it away, only to see that it was actually not a liquid, but a… slug like creature.

"This just got weird," he sighed and walked to a cabinet. From inside, he pulled a Plexiglas container and lid, then went and retrieved a large pair of tweezers. "I've seen way too many sci-fi movies…"

Bruce exhaled and placed the tweezers at the back of the prisoner's neck, awkwardly grasping the slug-like creature and just… pulling. And pulling… And pulling.

It was long. Very long. And when he finally pulled it the _entire_ way out, the other end proved to be far worse than the back end.

It had a face, and _very_ sharp teeth. It twisted and lashed out at Bruce, making a high pitched shriek as it did so. "Woah! Damn it!" He wrestled with the gel slug/eel, fighting not only it but his own body. As his pulse started to rise, the sedative bracelet injected serum, slowing him down and making him dizzy.

Finally, he managed to get the damned thing into the jar and slam the lid on it. As he set it down on the counter, he slipped and fell unconscious. He had drained his serum.

When he awoke, he didn't know how long he had been out, but Banner did know one thing. The female prisoner was most certainly alive. She was screaming and thrashing around on the table, and he was alone in the room with her, with no serum left in his cuff.

000

_Additional Notes(two): I am so sorry for the delay! I just got so busy that I didn't realize so much time had passed! I hope I still have some readers out there! It might be hard for me to update quickly over the next few weeks. I have Sangawa coming up, and I have some costumes I need to have done for that, and I have some commissions lined up for Dragon Con, which I also have to get done. I also need to alter my CC costume, and finish touching up the Lelouch costume. Busy busy busy._

_Hopefully this chapter will have satisfied some of you, because I really do want to retain my readers!_

_Thanks everyone!_

_A.F_


	18. Chapter 18

_Libertas_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing._

_Additional Notes(1): I have only seen the movies and read a few comics. I am receiving information of substance from my resident expert, though he is not Beta reading for me (nor does he actually know I am writing this!) Please bare with me if my story breaks one or all of the existing universes._

_000_

As the female prisoner thrashed around, she somehow managed to get back onto her feet. She held on to the back of her neck, stumbling into counters and then back into the table she had been laying on. It slid sideways, ramming into the fallen Bruce.

He shielded himself from the metal, feeling his pulse starting to spike again. As he threw the table completely to the side, he knew he didn't have long before the sedative left his body and the Other Guy came out. Bruce stood and dived for the intercom button on one end of the counter. "Going to need help down here," he practically growled. He turned around, hunching forward when he felt his muscles and bones starting to rapidly expand.

The prisoner's skin started shifting at the same time, but not a single, coherent form was created. Parts of her body resembled Pepper, then a cat creature, then a Chitauri, and then Loki, to the onlookers' disbelief. As Bruce… _left…_ and the Hulk appeared, he roared and picked up the prisoner by her waist, hoisting her into the air, holding her tightly. He fought the urge to just crack all of her ribs and tear her in half.

She screamed and her body finally stopped shifting, returning her to her 'normal', scarred form.

At that point, Rogers and Thor came charging in the room. "Hulk," Rogers shouted immediately, in a warning tone, "you have to put her down."

The Hulk turned and snarled at the Captain, shaking the woman.

"_Hulk_, we need to question her. She's the only one who can tell us where Pepper is! You've got to put her down!"

"He isn't going to listen to you," Thor muttered in a singing sort of tone.

"He will. I've worked with him for a few months, I know he can understand what I'm saying. We've just got to make him see the consequences of his immediate actions," Steve replied and cautiously stepped forward.

Thor raised a brow, "that works?"

Rogers paused and shrugged, "well… not always… or… often, even. But it's Pepper! That has to hit something enough for him to stop!" He neared a bit more and then stopped to shout again, "_Hulk_! We will lose any chance at finding Pepper if you kill that woman. Don't you understand?"

Hulk looked at the Captain, then at the woman, then back to the Captain. He looked like an animal, caught between his desire to tear something to shreds, and obey its master. As he turned back to the woman, he snarled and dropped her. Hulk turned to start stalking towards them, when two sedative shots came flying past Thor's head and right into Hulk's heart.

He pulled them out, but it was too late. The sedative had already started to flow through his blood stream, so he stumbled with his third step. As he started to collapse on the floor, he was changing back to Bruce. Steve jumped over his body, knowing that Banner would be fine, and ran to the prisoner.

"Hey, hey, come on, stay with me," the Captain said, kneeling down and carefully trying to prop her up. He momentarily forgot that she might have to be tortured to get Pepper's information from her. He was surprised when she started smirking while coughing up blood.

"Takes more than a squeeze to kill me," she said and winced. Clearly, she was in pain, not just from Hulk's actions, but from the now bleeding hole in her neck. She chewed her lip to keep from screaming. "Just be gentle, I won't fight."

"You're getting locked up again," Steve replied and picked her up. She couldn't hold back and she shrieked again in pain. "Until we know what to do with you."

"Understandable," she said in something between a yell and a laugh. "Keep the blasted slug from me, I will be compliant." Of course, Steve had no idea what 'slug' she was talking about. Nonetheless, he carried her right past the fallen Bruce, Thor, and then Black Widow, who was still in the doorway.

000

He did exactly as he said he would, and she did the same. After carrying her into the only containment room they had (forcing her to have to be held with the one-time god,) Rogers secured her in the chair that she had been in only hours before. Loki was still very close and watched the scene with interest.

'_So she wasn't dead,' _Loki thought, holding his tongue. He didn't want to give away any information to his captors without first figuring out what consequences he still had to face. _'Perhaps it was a ploy to get me to reveal what knowledge I had?'_

"We should convene and discuss our plans," Thor spoke up as he entered the room, looking directly at Loki as he spoke, though his words were not directed at him. When he had finished with the woman, Steve moved behind Loki's chair and dragged him far away from the female prisoner. "We do not know how long until the next attack. It would be best if we hurried."

Steve checked to make sure that Loki's bounds were secured before he turned back to Thor. "I agree. We should have someone watch the room while we meet. We shouldn't leave the prisoners to conspire with each other."

The two left, eager to tell Tony of her change in status. They knew that he would want to talk with the prisoner first if it meant giving them a chance at finding Pepper.

And once again, Loki was left with the female prisoner as his only source of entertainment.

"I did not expect to be seeing you again," the one time god muttered. "You seemed set on not going to earth the last time we met."

"My plan to leave did not go well. Obviously."

"Yes… I can see that. And these people, the so-called _Avengers_? They caught you? Tortured you?" Loki asked, rather curious as to her capture.

"I walked right into their hands. I was sent in by the Chitauri. I did not fool them, they saw right through my form. I thought I was surely damned to a horrible form of torment for eternity, but not at their hands. But I am alive and _conscious,_ because of their accident_._ I have every intention of cooperating with them if it means I can still, someday, carry out my plans. I have sacrificed too much time to stop now."

"They'll sooner imprison you than let you leave," Loki said with a rather 'knowing' sort of smirk.

The petite woman stared back at him, tilting her head to her side."I'm not entirely sure that they could hold me. Tartanos barely managed, and they're supposed to be the best. At worse, they would send me to Asgard, which may not be standing for much longer…"

Loki's smirk faltered. "What could you possibly mean?"

"Oh, yes, you grew up in Asgard, didn't you? Vestrael was right. You are _very_ small for a Frost Giant, but a Frost Giant nonetheless. I had thought that your heritage would make you happy to hear of its impending destruction."

Silence passed between them until Loki finally said, "well go on, you have my attention."

"It's not your attention that I want."

000

"Tony, _Tony_, wait," Natasha warned, while Thor grabbed hold of the billionaire to keep him from the door. "We need to work on a plan. We need to know what she knows."

"Right, so, we just force it out of her. Gah! Let me get suit…" He struggled against the god, but gave up and backed away from the exit, heading instead to his docking station for his suit.

"She was very cooperative when she came-to," Rogers said quickly, "it could either be a trap, or, she's genuinely grateful for us saving her. We should at least _try_ speaking with her before we resort to violence. Between her and Loki, as much as I hate to admit it, we might be able to figure out the Chitauri's plan."

Of course, the Captain, ever the diplomat.

"How can you be so calm?" Stark snapped, turning away from the group. His fists clenched quickly, but eventually, he exhaled and let his shoulders slump. "She's an enemy spy who might have killed Pepper, and you want to walk in there like a friend? We cannot say for certain that when we walk back into that containment room, we won't be caught in a trap that will be the end of the Avenger's initiative? You left her alone with _another_ Chitauri spy, after all."

"Stark…" Thor started to say, though he didn't have the words to try to comfort the angry billionaire.

"At least let me look threatening," Stark said, still making a beeline for his Iron Man suit. "If we look dangerous, maybe she'll be more easily persuaded."

"Only if you disable your weaponry while we're questioning her," replied Natasha.

Tony glared at her before finally saying, "done. JARVIS, disable the Mark 7's weaponry until we're directly threatened."

Hawkeye groaned and wiped his face with his hand, "yeah, this is going to go _so_ well…"

000

_Additional Notes(two): work has just been killer lately. I come home feeling so very drained… It is taking me a lot longer than it used to, to get these chapters out. I knew that this would happen though, which is why I made it a point to try to update every day. I will still try to get at least one chapter out per week, though I would prefer it to be two… I do have to get two costumes done though by July 13__th__ and another by the end of August… I will remain busy, even in my free time!_

_Thank you everyone for your kind reviews, it really makes me so happy to read through every one of them! This female character still won't be the focus, no worries. I just need some introductory stuff for her, which is why there's so much going on with her, at the moment. I still don't know if there will be an explanation of her back story, though I do have a rather good scene in mind for her. If I do write it, it will either be as an 'interlude' in this story, so people can skip it if they want, and it won't be vital to the story. It will be posted at the same time as another chapter to keep you all satisfied! Or I will create a livejournal or something to post a side chapter._

_Thank you everyone!_

_A_F_


	19. Chapter 19

_Libertas_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing._

_Additional Notes(1): I have only seen the movies and read a few comics. I am receiving information of substance from my resident expert, though he is not Beta reading for me (nor does he actually know I am writing this!) Please bare with me if my story breaks one or all of the existing universes._

_000_

"What could these creatures want with us?" Fandral asked, watching through a spy glass as the city outside of the castle walls was flattened. They had long since abandoned their fight against the invaders. Their numbers proved too many against the limited Asgardians, especially when the huge Chitauri beasts started demolishing everything they touched.

"They didn't even care about the civilians until they found they couldn't get in here," Hogun responded, "most warfare starts by killing the masses. This is unusual if they are trying to conquer us."

"Well…" Lady Sif started slowly from her corner, where she was pacing back and forth, her arms across her chest, "I think they're here to possibly… retrieve… something or even someone."

"Why would you think that?" Fandral looked at her through her reflection in the spy-glass-turned-regular-mirror.

"King Odin has been exponentially strengthening the guard at the vault. Explain why he would do that, unless he had reason to believe that they already knew about it, and would be targeting it?"

"Perhaps he just wants to keep its contents from falling into the wrong hands. There are many powerful and dangerous items in our vault," Volstagg said lightly, brushing off her concerns, as he continued eating his charred bird meal.

"No," Sif said quietly, heading to the spy glass. She lightly nudged Fandral, trying to get him to move. When he didn't budge, Sif shoved him away. Tapping the reflective surface, she pulled up the image of the vault doors, since the spy glass couldn't see any further than the entryway. It did appear to have heightened guard. Additionally, King Odin stood before the entryway, staff raised and eyes closed. He was working on sealing the door.

"_The secrets of the vault may be lost to us forever,"_ he said with a sigh, collapsing against the sturdy doors. _"Should they manage to enter the castle, it would be near impossible for anyone but another guardian of Asgard to open."_ As the old king started to feel his knees buckle, two armored soldiers rushed to his side.

"_With all due respect, your highness, do you truly believe he would still protect Asgard?" _One of the guards asked, putting one of Odin's arms around his neck and across his shoulders.

"_Yes_,_"_ Odin replied after a moment, _"he may not feel no love for Thor or myself, but he could never forsake Asgard. Loki can be many things, but heartless is not one of them. I can only hope he realizes all that he is before our faith in him is wasted."_

"You see?" Sif said, letting the image disappear until just her own reflection was left. "You cannot honestly believe that this is just for _precaution_. That's a full defense. Our outer barrier cannot be broken unless Thor were to release it. Odin _must_ have reason to believe that they will somehow get Thor to release the barrier."

"But Thor would rather give his life than see Asgard over taken by such… vile, alien creatures!" Volstagg insisted in disgust as he sucked the last of the meat from the charred bird's bones.

"Well, perhaps the Chitauri have figured out a way to break him. Even the mighty Thor has his weaknesses…"

000

"I would like a drink of water," the female prisoner said, her voice raspy, as she stared up at the puffed chests and crossed arms in front of her.

"Uh, no," Stark said and stepped forward, "that's not how this works. See, you're the prisoner, and we're the all powerful superheroes that have defeated you. You don't get to tell us what to do. Now, you tell us where we can find Pepper now, or things will get start getting dirty. And Natasha here, she can get _real_ dirty." He threw his hand back, jabbing his thumb in the other woman's direction. She just raised a brow and nodded.

The female prisoner didn't even flinch at the supposed threat. "I find speaking to be rather uncomfortable. You want me to speak, yes?" Before anyone else could rebut, Steve spoke up to calm the rising tension.

"Keep in mind that Natasha did nearly crush her windpipe. She could be telling the truth."

"I assure you, if I can have a drink, I will tell you whatever you would like to know," she said and put her head back, waiting patiently for something to soothe her burning throat.

"If I had a cup, I could just—"

"No one wants your piss water, Stark," Hawkeye said dryly and turned to head to the door. He knew he would be the one doing the grunt work. He always was. He was the only one that didn't have abnormal intelligence or suped up strength, (or, of course, female jiggly bits.)

Loki watched the scene before him in slight disbelief. The group walked in the room, completely disregarding him. While everyone (minus Stark) couldn't help but let their eyes flicker towards him as they filed in, it seemed that he was no longer of consequence. He was no longer their menacing enemy. He had been overshadowed by the woman who had helped him escape.

He didn't like the thought of that.

"I would say that this is starting off as well as your last interrogation," he said with a smile, "and, if I recall, it didn't go as well as you thought it did…"

"This doesn't concern you," Thor responded and groaned, "for once, just stay out of it, brother."

"I'm afraid it _does_. I am mortal because of not just the Chitauri, but because of _her_, too," Loki said and nodded towards the other prisoner. "If she had not urged me to escape, perhaps I would not be this horrible creature called human."

"Or, perhaps, you would have been beaten and tortured too, until you finally gave up the secrets of Asgard. Then you would've been killed." Her voice came out almost as a growl, has it been any louder, it might have been more like a snarl. The door opened again and Barton reentered with a water bottle. The prisoner didn't take her eyes off of Loki until Hawkeye was right in front of her, cracking open the seal, and tilting the bottle downwards. She raised her head and let him pour the water in. After she gulped down the water, she licked her lips and sighed, "that feels better."

"You've had your drink, now, where's Pepper," Stark raised his armored hand, releasing a weapon from its holster.

The prisoner looked at the numerous sets of eyes again staring down at her before meeting Tony's again. "Well… I don't know where she is _now_. I only know where they picked us up. We were separated. When I last saw her, when I was being sent here again as 'Pepper', she was being… treated well."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

The prisoner looked as though she were trying to carefully choose her words, "I think that he has taken a liking to her. He likes her hair…"

The Avengers exchanged looks of confusion before Tony grimaced. "Why does something so inconsequential make me feel so uncomfortable?"

"How do we get back to her? We need to get to the Chitauri and get her back," Natasha demanded, stepping forward, forcefully putting her hand at the prisoner's chin and forcing her head back, "tell us everything." There was a flash in the prisoner's eyes, but she did not look the least bit intimidated.

"I do not know. I had no control over my transport. If you want to get to the Chitauri, then you must find your own way back. Perhaps try the existing gateways. But I warn you, he is protecting her fragile human body. It is unlikely that you will be able to handle him in the Chitauri domain."

"Fine, more on the 'how' later," Natasha said sternly, still not releasing the prisoner, "now the 'who.' Who is this 'he' you keep referring to? The Chitauri commander? They were commanded by Loki only a short while ago, have they planned this on their own?"

"I… do not know his name. They were not as forthcoming with their information as I. They tortured me, he implanted that creature in my neck, and they gave me my instructions. I had no choice but to abide by their conditions. The creature was meant to kill me if I did not complete my task in time. All I know about their leader is that he was not one of them. He was something else—something foreign to me. I am very well traveled. It is rare for me to come across a race I do not know," she explained, hoping that her honesty would come across.

Natasha stared into the prisoner's brown eyes before letting go of her chin and stepping back. "She is telling the truth. She does not know who their leader is."

"Was he… sort of purplish red?" Loki asked after a moment of hesitation. The prisoner nodded. "Ah. So there must have been more to his plan than just the Tesseract."

"Congratulations, you have our attention again," Barton snapped, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. He still had a vendetta against the former god—it would probably never go away, not until Barton got his chance to beat Loki's face in with a baseball bat. Preferably one that had rusted nails sticking out of it.

As much as Loki wanted to bask in the attention, the thought of dealing with that… thing… caused him to clench his jaw. "They call him their lord. He is the mind behind their military. His resources are unlimited. I am not proud to say that I was a fool for thinking that I had any power over the Chitauri forces," he muttered bitterly, his mouth twitching downward.

"His resources are unlimited," the prisoner muttered, looking down at the now dirty tiles on the floor, "he has endless power. Time means nothing to him. He does not care how long it takes, or how many lives are sacrificed. He will not stop until he gets what he wants."

"Yeah, well, he hasn't met the Avengers," Tony replied rather lightly, despite the frown plastered to his bearded face. "We have our own resources, and we're way better looking than anything possibly described as 'purplish red.'" As if to completely disagree with the genius, playboy, philanthropist, there was a loud _crash_ that shook the side of the building in which they were gathered. They groaned and immediately started heading for the door. As they did so, Loki called out.

"If you value your lives—"

"—or your sanity," the prisoner cut Loki off.

"—then it would be better for you to give up on your red headed friend and remain in this realm. You do not have any idea what you're going to get yourself into."

_000_

_Additional Notes(two): Soooo…. I've been gone for a little while…_

_I'm so sorry! I warned you that this could happen! I just became so busy working on costumes that had shipping deadlines that I couldn't spare time to write! Then I had to finish my own so that I could go to DragonCon, and, well, I just got a little caught up._

_I'm looking forward to getting the Avengers on dvd, so hopefully I will feel reinspired. I had a hard time writing this chapter—I tried over and over again, but it simply didn't flow like the others. I am sorry if it is a disappointing chapter, but I needed to get it done and over with so that I could keep the story moving. _

_Thank you to everyone who stuck with me and are still out there reading! It means a lot to me! I hope you all had a great summer!_

_A_F_


	20. Chapter 20

_Libertas_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing._

_Additional Notes(1): I have only seen the movies and read a few comics. I am receiving information of substance from my resident expert, though he is not Beta reading for me (nor does he actually know I am writing this!) Please bare with me if my story breaks one or all of the existing universes._

_000_

"You seem to resent me for helping you escape," the woman said after they had sat in silence for so long. Loki inwardly groaned. Of course she became chatty only when he wanted some time to try to plan his actions. Being stuck as his brother's prisoner was not something he intended on continuing.

"Had you not encouraged me to run, I could be still a god. In fact, for all I really know, you have been working with the Chitauri since you initially woke me while taking their form." Loki tried to flex his muscles, looking for some sort of weak spot in his bonds. Since she was the bigger threat (apparently,) they gave her the high tech restriction chair, with thick metal supports and mechanical bounds. He was tied to a normal chair. If he has still had his otherworldly power, he could have broken through with ease.

She scowled at him, "I would never choose to work with them. They did not find a way to influence me until after you had landed on earth. The idea of eternal torment while my body continuously tried to heal itself was not one I particularly liked. Wouldn't you have done the same thing, if you only had a certain amount of time to try to save yourself?"

"Well a fat load of good any of it has done us," he replied tersely, ignoring her question completely, "we went from being prisoners in Tartanos, to being captives of the Chitauri, and now POWs in the Avengers' headquarters. My plan was foiled and yours failed. What, exactly, do you intend to do now?"

As he spoke, Loki felt his frustration rising. It was an odd feeling. He hadn't felt this way since he was just a child—he had long since mastered the constant façade of being cool and collected. However, since his sudden mortality, it seemed that it was becoming harder and harder to not give in to his—

"Do you still care about Asgard?" She said abruptly, looking at him with curiosity. He raised a brow in confusion.

"That's a strange question. Of course not. They rejected me, and as such, I feel no love for the realm or its people."

She nodded her head slowly, "ah. Okay." She left it at that and put her head back, closing her eyes. Loki continued to stare at her, teetering between asking her where he random question had stemmed from and acting like it meant nothing to him.

"What…is your name?"

"Whatever people choose to call me," she responded with a shrug.

"Surely you have something that people call you regularly. You must have been born with a name," he said, trying to mostly ease his own mind.

"I have lived most of my life taking the identities of others. I don't have much that actually belongs to me."

"So what are we expected to call you? 'Prisoner?' 'Woman?' 'Scar?' 'Brown Hair?' 'Alien?' 'Shapeshifter?' 'Animal?'" She did not respond to Loki's prodding. He went back to trying to free himself as the building shuddered once more. He blocked out the extraneous noises as best he could, focusing on the chaffing of his now delicate skin on his wrists, the aching of his weak joints, and the pounding on his sensitive skull.

How he despised his current 'condition.'

After one particularly violent blast, the female prisoner lifted her head and looked at the wall to her right (Loki's left,) to see a few cracks starting to form. "Ash," she said finally, "my mother's servants named me. That is what you can call me." As she looked down at her strapped wrists, her body started to change form until a small child sat in her place. While the mechanical bands did shrink to an extent with her, her wrists became too small for the restraining chair. Free from the restraints, and looking absurd in Pepper Pott's oversized clothes, a little blonde girl struggled to slip off the chair with the abundance of fabric.

"If you knew you could just escape, why did you freely give away so much information?" Loki asked, watching as she started to return to her normal size. He tried not to cringe as he heard what sounded like bones cracking.

"I had already told them that I would tell them whatever they wanted to know. They are not my enemy. If I did not need them to help me realm jump, I would just leave them now. But alas, it unfortunately benefits me to help them, even if it means I must subject myself to some abuse." She readjusted the dressy clothes (which were rather tattered after her fights with Ironman and the Hulk,) and inspected the cracks in the wall.

Loki was concerned that she would not free him as well. She had already gone out of her way to help him, and he had hardly been grateful. Was that the extent of her 'kindness?' Instead of asking, begging, her to release him, he asked what was really biting at his mind. "Why did you ask if I still cared about Asgard?"

"The Chitauri have been attacking it. They want something that is there, and they have every intention of leveling the realm, if that's what it takes to break into the stronghold. The city is already gone. The survivors are holed up in Odin's keep," she, Ash, as it turned out she was called, said evenly, backing away from the wall as another violent crash caused it to start spider-webbing.

"But they can't get in," Loki said quietly, "they can't enter the palace—the Keep—unless Thor releases the protective barrier. It is a failsafe meant to be used during only the worst of warefare."

"From the Chitauri chatter, it's definitely reaching the category of 'worst.'"

"Then they are actually here for him. It has nothing to do with the earth itself, just _him._ Thor would never submit to the Chitauri though, he is far to self righteous to bow to them," Loki said in disbelief, starting to truly struggle against the rope that restricted him.

"They don't need him. Only his power," she responded and backed away ever further, as if preparing for the wall to burst open.

Of course, that's exactly what happened.

000

Barton was having a hard time remaining calm. He was almost out of arrows, he had lost the back-up gun that Natasha had insisted that he carry, and it seemed that the Chitauri had taken particular interested in him, this time around. "Oh for the love of god, why don't you go after one of the guys with actual superpowers?" He muttered to himself, letting one of his last arrows fly. It hit one of the aliens in the eye before it blew up, taking the creatures head and half of his neighbor's body with it. "Right, because that would be suicide. Why go after the super strong guy, or the guy who shoots lightning, when you can go after the freaking _archer_."

He prepared to back up and start running to one of the nearby buildings for cover when he heard Stark say over their communicators, _'the prisoners have both escaped! They're in the city somewhere! Find them! We need them to find Pepper!'_

Hawkeye wanted to respond, wanted to shout at the flying man who had an armored suit to protect him. He wanted to say that maybe they should be concerned with their own lives first and foremost, but he didn't have the chance.

Before he knew it, Hawkeye was on the ground, laying on his stomach. Something had pushed him down from behind. He scrambled to try to stand again, convinced that the invaders had surrounded him and were going to be attacking him from one side or another. When he did stand, Barton was somewhat bewildered to see a large cat-creature taking on the group of Chitauri, and _winning_.

Sure, it was nothing like when the Hulk came out to play, but _still_. "I, uh, think I found one of them. At least, I _hope_ it's one of them."

A few blocks away, Thor was struggling on his own as well. Some of the Chitauri were wearing armor that simply absorbed his lightning and were even using it power their weapons. He had discovered, after he had been hit a few times by his own lightning strikes, shot back from weaponized packs on the aliens' backs, that he could only physically attack them. He was much more vulnerable, which was rather obvious by the blood spewing from his side.

As one of the Chitauri who wore goggles and the back pack readied another shot at him, Thor tried to call Mjolnir back to him before he was attacked. He could combat the electricity if he had his hammer absorb the energy, but since he had thrown it, he was left completely open. "MJOLNIR!" He shouted, trying to stagger closer to his weapon.

The high pitched hum of their weapons could be heard all throughout the area, and he had no choice but to brace himself for impact. He could not move fast enough to escape them, and his weapon just couldn't quite reach him. After preparing for the blast to come, he was surprised when nothing happened.

There was, instead, a bright light, and a _zap!_ before the Chitauri started disgustingly shrieking in agony. Thor turned to see what had happened, expecting to see one of his comrades coming to his rescue (he wasn't so arrogant to think that he didn't need them—they all needed each other in this time of battle.) He was not expecting to see one of the Chitauri blade-staffs sticking out of the back pack, with the electric energy attacking anything made of metal in the area, i.e., their metallic bodies.

He was also certainly not expecting to see, when the invaders finally fell to the ground, a panting Loki standing just out of range of the electricity. "Don't think that this means I like you any better," the dark haired, former god breathed, "I just have my own vendetta against them—and you."

"Of course," Thor said with a chuckle of disbelief, "I wouldn't expect anything less from you, mortal."

Loki scowled at him before hunching forward, coughing. Running that many blocks, dodging that many Chitauri… well, it was enough to take its toll on any normal, human body.

000

_Additional Notes(two): Surprised? I must admit, I am. I was really not expecting to put out another chapter so soon, but after I found myself stuck in Oakland in a Panera Bread for a few hours, it sort of just… flowed on out. _

_**Finally**__ we get things moving. It only took, oh, you know, nineteen freaking chapters. ~Sigh~ was not expecting this… _

_I honestly did not have a name for the prisoner until about midnight last night, when I woke up and suddenly thought of a back story for her. Now that Loki is 'free,' you can expect this to go back to having him as a focus. He won't be the 'primary' focus, since this is now an Avengers fic, rather than a Loki fic, but he's still the main character, per se._

_For those of you who have stuck we me—thank you! _

_And I know you're all out there! I can see the reader count rising! Please review; it makes my day and gives me a reason to keep writing!_

_A_F_


	21. Chapter 21

_Libertas_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing._

_Additional Notes(1): I have only seen the movies and read a few comics. I am receiving information of substance from my resident expert, though he is not Beta reading for me (nor does he actually know I am writing this!) Please bare with me if my story breaks one or all of the existing universes._

000

When the rubble from a near by structure collapse cleared, Barton was left staring at the crouching female prisoner. The naked, crouching, female prisoner. She stood up and used her arm to wipe away the blood dripping from her mouth.

It didn't work, and instead, she smeared it across her cheek.

"Corner of tenth and main," Hawkeye whispered into his communicator, hoping someone would hear him and come to his aid. As she took a step towards him, Ironman came flying around behind him, shooting at her feet as a warning. She stopped moving and watched as he zooming to a halt and landed next to Barton.

"This may be the eleventh weirdest situation I've ever walking into. Not in the top ten—the Pilipino midget still probably beats this one," Stark said, raising his arm to aim at her head. "How did you escape?"

"I only remained your captive as a courtesy to you," she replied, placing a hand on her hip, "shouldn't the fact that Loki and I stayed around to help your team count for something?" As if on cue, two voices were heard squabbling as they rounded the corner. Thor was leaning against Loki, due to his injury, and they were slowly nearing the other three.

"_Are you guys okay down there? Or do Cap'n and I need to join in?"_ Black Widow spoke over the intercom from her landing pad across from stArk tower.

"We're good, Barton found with a naked woman, no big deal."

"Ohhh, I hate you, Stark. Have I told you that? I think I have…" Barton muttered, but didn't respond to Natasha. He knew that she wouldn't need an explanation from him.

"What's going on here? Why is she unclothed?" Thor question when they limped over, "why are you unclothed?"

The female prisoner looked down at herself then to the god with a shrug, "clothes do not shape shift. When I became a Kit-al—I think you could call it a feline beast—the clothes did not fit. It comes with the ability. I'm hardly modest."

"Yes, well, we are all spoken-for men here, so unless it is my brother you might wish to seduce, you best stay covered." Thor released Loki, who snorted at the prospect of being seduced by _her_, and staggered towards her. He unclasped his regal, red velvet cape and draped it over her shoulders.

"So if you could've run, why did you stay?" Hawkeye asked as Thor wrapped the cloak around her body and stepped away.

The 'prisoner' did not respond right away. Instead, she crossed her arms. "You know, as much as I like the thought of getting right to the point, perhaps we should all sit down and chat, as civilized people often do."

"… says the girl in the toga, covered in blood," Stark replied and lowered his arm. "Nothing funny, or we'll sic the Hulk on you."

0000

And this was how they found themselves in the barely-there meeting room in stArk tower, talking over hot coco and sharing blankets.

'_Well, almost,'_ Loki tought with some sarcasm. He and As, as she had introduced herself to the Avengers, were sitting on once side of the table, backs to the broken window. It was covered, and poorly so, with a tarp. The residents had become too tired of repeatedly fixing it to bother any further. The chilly night air cut right through, hitting the non-teammates from behind. _They_ were the ones sharing the blanket. After Bruce brought it to Ash with his apology for trying to squeeze her head off, she accepted it with a chuckle and a nod. Almost instantly, Loki tried to take it from her. They tugged back and forth until she finally allowed him to move closer and share.

He made it a point to avoid touching her.

'_I may not understand her rationale for helping me, but I have no choice but to take advantage.' _He had the unfortunate realization that he was expendable compared to her. He need to make himself valuable, and fast. "Asgard is crumbling," Loki said finally, after was well situated and had everyone's full attention. "The Chitauri are after something in Odin's vault."

"So what? They've been after the tesseract before," Hawkeye said immediately. He wouldn't take his eyes off of Loki. Not for a single moment. Instead, he bared down on him while he continuously flipped his small hand knife from one side to the other.

"They don't need the _tesseract_. They have already been able to replicate the portal, which was the importance of the cube in the first place. No, they want something else. Something, I daresay, that is far more powerful than the tesseract. However, I could not begin to fathom what that is. Odin has quite the collection," Loki said, looking at Thor with a raised brow. The god slowly paced back and forth behind Tony, he had beneath his chin.

"Yeah, well, I find it hard to believe anything that comes out of your mouth," Stark responded drying from his spot staring up at his large, holographic computer screen. "You are a manipulator; even if our Norse mythology, you're a lying, conniving, douche bag who can't be trusted. We put a muzzle on you when left so you couldn't use your single best skill—your words." He didn't like having the Pepper impersonator walking freely amongst them, but he liked having Loki at their table even less. It was clear to everyone in the room. "You tried to kill of us and rule our planet. You killed over eighty people in clold blood, then you brought an alien species to us, and _they _killed hundreds more. Even after you were defeated, they kept coming and destroying. All because of _you._"

"_**No**_**,**_" _Loki cut in sharply, "they are here because of _him." _He nodded towards Thor's direction, who looked completely taken aback.

"Me? Again? Why is it always my faut…"

Natasha walked towards Thor, her arm outstretched as if to protect him, "no way, don't even start—"

Loki leaned forward, his eyes down case for just a moment. Everyone visibly tensed as his voice became suddenly icy. "Let's get this out of the way right now," he looked up and started looking at each and every one of the supposed heroes, "I've done some things that I regret. I hardly think anyone in this room can say they've never been in a similar situation."

"None of us have ever—" Hawkeye started, but was cut off regardless.

"I wasn't finished. Ms Rominov, how many people did you kill before you became a 'good' guy? How many lives did you take with your own bare hands? Banner, I'm sure I don't need to even say a word to _you_ on the matter either. What about you, Tony Stark? How many hundreds or thousands have died as a result of your weapons? And what about your father before you? You may not have pulled the trigger, but you gave killers their weapons." The Avengers shifted uncomfortably in their chairs as he spoke, looking at one another for support. "Besides the angelic Captain here, none of you are free from your sins. Barton, you _know _ that I know every little deep dark secret of yours, and I must say, some of them are _very_ dark. And Thor… well, I've witnessed most of your wrong doings. Now, would you like to stop with your brooding judgment and let me _help?_"

After a few moments of silence, the Captain finally spoke up. "I hate to admit it," he said slowly, "but he has a point. Most of us aren't exactly perfect. We should at least hear what he has to say without being biased…" Still, no one else spoke. He could only assume it wasn't a total rejection. "Loki, this doesn't mean we trust you. First sign of a betrayal…"

"Yes, yes, off with my mortal head. I get it."

"Great, fine, we have to keep him, but why her?" Tony asked, still not bothering to turn around, even after Loki's fine monologue. "He has all of the information we need. If he can tell us everything, we should get rid of her now, before she has a chance to shape shift into someone else to trick us."

"I have no loyalty to anyone," Ash said honestly, "my services are bought by the highest bidder, in normal circumstances. However, I cannot leave this realm on my own. Therefore, in exchange for getting me to Asgard, you have my hand. I can provide a great deal of 'muscle,' as you may call it. You might find that I have much more than shape shifting at my disposal."

"Well, like what?" Steve asked.

"You might find out," she repeated, being intentionally evasive.

"Let's just keep moving on," Natasha interrupted with a sigh, "we really don't have all night. We need to figure out how to get Pepper and stop the attacks. If you're so hell bent on helping us, then you might as well start talking, Loki."

With the most charming smile he could muster, Loki said, "wonderful. Let me start by painting you a mental picture of what you're about to face…"

0000

"I don't know what you make of you, Loki," Thor said with a sigh, turning from their bedroom window, beer bottle in hand. It has been a unanimous decision to put the two of them in a bedroom and lock them in, rather than keep Loki locked up on his own somewhere else, likely in chains. They had their own beds, and Loki could almost feel like one of the team members when he wasn't stuck in a cell of some sort.

While he wasn't thrilled with it (Thor could snore like a wild halbdaeg,) Loki was forced to accept the 'gracious offer.'

"I cannot blame you for that," he responded, towel drying his black hair, as he sat hunched over on his bed. He noticed, yet again, how long his damned hair was getting. He'd request a trim, but he didn't exactly want anyone in the building near him with a pair of scissors or a razor. It also annoyed him to feel stubble starting to come in around his chin. Loki used to envy Thor's facial hair—a symbol of masculinity that he never had, likely due to his frost giant heritage. But now that the prospect of having was actually in his head, he didn't want to do it one bit.

"Why, _why_ after everything you've done, have you decided to change your ways? It is beyond me, and honestly, I have a hard time believing you." Thor shut the window and went to his own bed, dropping down and taking a swig of his drink.

"Toss one over here, don't hold out," Loki said, nodding to the mini fridge next to Thor's bed. With an annoyed exhale, Thor stretched over, popped open the door and awkwardly pulled out the bottle with one hand. He tossed it over and Loki caught it. He didn't waste a moment cracking it open. He started sipping with a satisfied sigh. "You won't ever know what I went through, after I fell into the void of the realms," he said lightly, leaning back onto his forearms. "You'll never know the pain and torment my body and mind went through. I lost myself. I didn't exist. I know, it was my own fault—for feeling belittled and unwanted… and just _hating_ you as much as I did during that fight on the bridge. My own fault. I was a child."

Loki gazed off, trying to think back to what seem like a past life to him. He was silent for a few moments while he nursed his drink. "When I was found again, it was by the being who is calling himself the Chitauri lord. He put me back together—convinced me that I was meant to role and to take out all of my anger and revenge on you. I was someone… something… different. I think I really started figuring out that I was being used by him and the Chitauri during the battle here in New York. I ignored it though in my blind arrogance. It wasn't until my time in Tartanos that I realized my foolishness…

"Even that shape shifter, Ash, seemed to see right through my by that point. I hated her too," he said with a half smile and shook his head, "I hated her when she helped me escape from the Chitauri, because I couldn't do it myself, and she just… pitied me. I felt so inferior, like I was right back with father. Of course, even now, I still blame her at least a bit for my loss of power. Perhaps it was the best thing to happen to me though…"

"So you don't want them back?" Thor asked. Loki could tell by his expression that he was simply completely absorbed in his words. Ah, poor, naïve Thor…

"Of course I want them back!" Loki snorted with a smirk, "I don't want to die of old age. If I could handle that, I would've stayed with Darcy." Thor's soft expression faltered at the mention of his friend's name.

"Darcy… you know what they did with her, don't you?" Loki's brow furrowed and he shook his head in confusion. "SHIELD has her now. They're holding her on charges of aiding a war criminal. She may live out her days in a jail cell if she is found guilty. Since Earth's leader want to see you brought to justice, she probably doesn't stand even a chance, though she is surely innocent."

"I… it was not my intention… She did not know me, I can assure you."

"Yes, well, as Stark point out, it is hard to be _assured_ of anything that comes from your silver tongue." Thor sat up, finished his bottle, and took off his tee shirt. "We much to do tomorrow. You best get some sleep. Good night… Loki." Crawling beneath the covers of his bed, he reached over and shut out his light—the only light on in the room. As the room went dark, Loki sat quietly in his thoughts until he finished his drink and moved beneath the warm covers himself.

While he tried his hardest to fall right to sleep (he _was _very tired,) he just couldn't shut his mind off for the night. Instead, he though tot himself, _could they actually change me_? He didn't like the guilt he felt over Darcy's fate. He wasn't used to guilt _ever_. What if this meant he was actually becoming a 'good' guy?

Well, he would try his hardest to avoid _that._

He didn't have to be good to know that Asgard was still his home, after all. And he would still do his damnedest to protect. If he couldn't? Well, he could still avenge it.

0000

_Additional Notes(2): um… so… yeah… gone… and whatnot… Pleaseeeee forgive me! I always have such good intentions to update! But I started this chapter, then I really didn't like it, then I rewrote it, and finally I liked it by the time I got to the last part! I will try harder to get the next chapter up soon, but I reallyyy have to start working the Loki/Lady Loki costumes as well. _

_On that note, I may make a tumblr to feature progress of the costumes. More importantly, I may end up putting an 'interlude' to this story on there that involves some character development for Ash. I don't want to have too much of her in this, but I have thought up some decent scenes for her. I figured I would post them elsewhere when they were done so if someone was interested, they could read it, but it wouldn't be central to the story. People don't really want to read about OCs in these cases. _

_Thank you for sticking with me!_

_A.F_


	22. Chapter 22

_Libertas_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing._

_Additional Notes(1): I have only seen the movies and read a few comics. I am receiving information of substance from my resident expert, though he is not Beta reading for me (nor does he actually know I am writing this!) Please bare with me if my story breaks one or all of the existing universes._

000

_They were halfway up the great tree when Loki started to grow tired. It was a hot day, and his heavy black clothes felt like they were suffocating him. The branches were so thick, he could barely see the sunlight peeking through the heavy foliage. There was a top though, and both he and Thor were set on reaching it._

"_What, tired already, little brother?" Thor joked from a good ten feet above Loki's head. Even as children, he was always the weaker boy. Thor had no problem hoisting himself up, swinging from branch to branch._

"_Like an ape," Loki muttered to himself as he leaned against the trunk of the tree, breathing deeply. Of course, Thor didn't hear him. _

"_Well come on, it's going to be night fall by the time we make it to the top. I want to see the whole realm from up there!" With a grin, Thor extended an arm to help pull Loki up the rest of the way. _

_With a 'humph' and a frown, Loki ignored the hand and gathered his strength to start jumping around from branch to branch. With his momentum, he soon passed by his brother. _

_While Thor always had his strength, Loki was always the faster of the two. The blonde rolled his eyes and groaned, climbing onward. "Look, now who is the slow one!" It wasn't a question, but a taunt._

"_I never called you slow!" Thor shouted upwards. He was starting to become angry. _

_Loki smirked as he finally started to near the top. As he glanced behind himself to see just how far above his brother he was, he seemed to miss the fact that he was moving straight towards a rather large nest. He also missed the equally large mother bird watching him from a few feet above._

_When he looked forward again, his eyes grew wide as the hawk like creature swooped downward, talons extended only a short distance from his face. He scrambled to duck and slipped._

_He hit a few branches as he started to fall, and it was more than just painful. His legs hit off the wood, knocking him to one side, and his head slammed off of another branch after his shoulders scraped off of one as well. Loki would have kept falling for what would be an agonizing few minutes, if Thor hadn't snatched his arm, yanking it out of its socket and causing him to hang limply out of the air._

_Loki was dazed, seeming to be barely remain conscious. There was blood streaming out of his dark hairline, and his lip was gushing. If he hadn't been in the heavy leather, his arms and legs would have been cut up as well. _

_Thor was absolutely fuming, mostly muttering about how angry their father would be when he saw the bloody mess of a boy. He would ask how he was hurt, and they would have to admit that they had gone to the Gods Tree like they were told not to do. Finally, he managed to pull his younger brother up to him. _

"_You always do this," he grumbled, "why aren't you fun anymore?" Of course, Loki did not respond. Thor worked to remove his own belt so that he could strap the limp body to his back and he could climb them both down again._

_It was a silent, heavy trip to the grass below. It took every bit of Thor's abnormal (yet still boyish) strength to slowly drop from one branch to the next. He had to stop grumbling, mostly because he couldn't focus on the two tasks at once._

_Though he couldn't speak himself, Loki was able to put a few coherent thoughts together, when he noticed that his arms were awkwardly dropped on either side of Thor's head, while his own lolled from side to side._

_He would never be able to do this._

_He knew, that if their roles were reversed, he would not have been able to stop Thor's fall from the tree, much less take on his burden to get them both to safety._

_He also knew, however, that Thor would never have found himself in his position. Thor would have grabbed the bird and fought it. And he probably would have won, even if it meant sustaining major injuries and killing a mother bird protecting her future offspring. He wouldn't have tried to dodge the attack._

_Thor landed with a thud. He crouched down for a moment, giving his arms a rest and stretching his tired legs. He was sweating, and his back hurt from his brother. Still, he didn't even try to put him down. Readjusting, Thor continued onward, heading straight back to the estate they were staying during their visit to the realm. _

"_You always say you're so smart," Thor finally grunted, "but you really should pay more attention to what is in front of you, brother."_

_Loki couldn't muster a frown. He wanted to speak but he couldn't. _

_He wanted to say, 'but you're always already there.'_

0000

"Rise and shine, boys," Natasha said as she threw the curtain back, letting in the morning sunlight into the room. "We've got work to do. Thor, you're to head to the deck for some manpower, Loki, you're to head to the lab for definitely _not_ manpower."

Thor groaned and pulled his pillow over his head, mumbling about evil women and eviler sunlight. "Thor,_ now_," she said one last time. "If you don't get up soon, Cap'n will come down here with his bugle again. He banged out the dents you put in it, and now it sounds worse than before."

Loki covered his eyes with his arm (the window was next to him,) and sighed.

He had thought that one day, he would be king. And one day, he wouldn't have to wake up until he wanted to wake up. And one day, he would have a beautiful queen or servant girl there to help him get ready in more effective ways then throwing the damned window open and stomping around loudly enough for her high heels to sound like a war horse trotting through the hallways.

"This is not what I had planned," he groaned and reluctantly sat up. He ran his hands through his hair, trying to detangle the mess it had become over night, and feeling the familiar scar barely hidden near his right temple.

After he finally sorted out something to wear from the box that had been left in the room for him, Loki wandered around until he found the lab that Natasha had spoken about. He was acutely aware of the cameras following his every move, sure that at least one person had eyes on him at all times. He didn't mind. In fact, if they were really watching, they would see that he was feeling very comfortable in their lair, even possibly _strutting_ as he walked down the corridors.

And how could he not?

He was in a pair of black slacks and comfortable leather shoes with a button down shirt. He hadn't felt so much like his normal self in… well he didn't actually know how long. How much time had passed since he was sent to Tartanos?

When he finally walked into the room, after the door slid open to provide him access, both Banner and Stark seemed rather displeased to see the casual smile dancing on his lips. "You called for me?"

"Unfortunately," Bruce replied, fidgeting with the penlight in his hands. "We tried to talk to Ash, but she brushed us off and said you would know more about it then she would." Tony just watched him, as if he were waiting for Loki to try something stupid.

With his hands in his pockets, Loki shifted back and forth on his heels. "Well, I'm not so sure about that," he replied and started inspecting the room with some curiosity. He turned and stared at a test tube filled with some sort of red substance.

"Don't touch that," Banner said quickly when Loki reached out to tap the glass, stepping up closer to the former god, but then stepping back quickly when Loki turned around again.

"I'm not going to bite, really," he chuckled, "I don't think that there is a single thing I could do to you. I'm just a plain old mortal who happens to know a lot of important information."

"If you're really here to help, like you say you are, then you should start. What do you know about this glass sphere?" Tony spoke up, crossing his arms across his chest in annoyance. Loki noticed how tired he looked—there were dark circles beneath his eyes, and his hands seemed to shake a little, perhaps as a result of the empty coffee pot next to him.

Loki sighed, _so much for trying to be friendly._ "Well, to start, it certainly is not glass. I do not think something made from glass would have survived my fall to earth. I saw many shatter, but that was because of Chitauri weaponry. Also, if light hits it, there are strange symbols—ancient runes of some sort, if you will. I do not know what they are."

"Okay, so, you've told us what we already know," Bruce said as Tony started tapping his fingers against his Black Sabbath-clad shirt in impatience. He clicked on his penlight and pointed the small beam at the orb, which bounced off, created a glow as runes danced around the circular surface.

"It is part of a larger device," Loki responded with a shrug, "there is a large prism that has similar runes, and it reacts when it is hit with a very strong light source. There was a chair, too, on Tartanos. I saw it used to aid in the detachment of power, I believe. The chair was not necessary, as I found out, the hard and very painful way. Perhaps if you had a stronger beam of light, you would see more of a reaction. That is just a guess though, since seems relatively useless without the prism."

"Awesome, so helpful," Stark said sarcastically. He turned and grabbed the coffee pot, apparently expecting to find coffee. He had forgotten to turn it on when he made a new pot. "So why did they want this particular sphere? Why would they go to such extreme lengths to track it down, that they had to kidnap Pepper?"

"I believe it is the last one. During my escape, all hell broke loose, if you would. The spheres were taken from Tartanos, which is now on complete lockdown, and completely impregnable. The Chitauri destroyed all of them, except for that one that I grabbed on my way out. Now that I think about it, that little thing may be the reason I do not have my powers. If I hadn't stopped for just that one moment to take it for my own curiosity…"

"Yeah, don't care about you." Tony slammed the coffeepot down, accidentally snapping the handle off as he did so. "Son of a mother—"

"Stark," Banner interrupted quickly, "you've been up all night working to the reverse portal design. Go to bed. I can handle this on my own. We aren't going to get anywhere until the others finish the base for the converter anyhow. You're clearly useless at this point."

"Useless? Why are _you_ of all people calling—"

"—you can't remember to turn a coffeepot on. Think you can remember the wiring for maximizing the flow output of the Chitauri weapons?" Banner looked at Tony with a raised brow and an annoyed frown. Stark tapped his thumb against the counter, staring back at the other scientist. Ultimately, he was the one to break.

"I'll be back in a few hours. Nothing funny," he snapped to Loki as he grabbed his cell phone from the nearby computer desk and left the room. Bruce turned towards Loki and nodded.

"Show me what you mean. We'll get a better light source."

000

_Additional Notes(two): again, I started writing this chapter and didn't like it, so I scratched it all and just started writing some other random bits. And voila! A childhood memory/dream sequence helping to explain why poor old Loki is why he is. Or something. I surprise myself of how much random stuff I come up with and find a way to connect it later =)._

_Thank you for my lovely reviewers who assured me that there are at least two people still around who are willing to review! It helps, trust me!_

_Have a great weekend guys, _

_-flamma out! (it's been a long night.)_


	23. Chapter 23

_Libertas_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing._

_Additional Notes(1): I have only seen the movies and read a few comics. I am receiving information of substance from my resident expert, though he is not Beta reading for me (nor does he actually know I am writing this!) Please bare with me if my story breaks one or all of the existing universes._

0000

"Mr. Stark, I thought you to be sleeping."

"Is that why you're wandering around my supply room?" Tony asked the shape shifter from the doorway of the two story warehouse located on the basement levels of the stArk tower. "Because you thought I would be sleeping?"

It had been two days since the Avengers had accepted the help of their two captives. Tony hardly slept, except for when they refused to let him help anywhere else. He had worked tirelessly to design and blueprint the portals that would take them to Asgard and to the Chitauri base.

She stood and stretched. "Hardly. I was sent down here to retrieve some equipment. I have a list," Ash waved around a piece of yellow legal pad. Though he couldn't see it from his spot, it was written in Banner's hand. "But there doesn't seem to be any sort of reason behind this organization structure. I haven't even found one of these items."

Tony tuned out most of her words as he stared down at her. The circles around his eyes seemed to be more apparent than they had been in days. Though he had tried to sleep, he couldn't. He hadn't slept a wink since the Pepper impersonator had shown up. Stepping through the door, he pressed a button, and it shut behind him, locking.

Ash tensed for a moment before saying, "Mr. Stark, I hope you know that I don't find you the least bit threatening with your suit, much less without it."

"That, I do know," he replied and leaned forward to grip the metal railing. "What I don't know about… is you."

"There aren't many still alive that do, Mr. Stark." She stared up at him, any hint of a smile gone from her lips.

"Whether we win or lose, you survive, don't you? Tell me, do you think we have a chance at winning against the Chitauri." He clenched the metal so tight, his knuckles turned white. The last time he felt this sleep deprived and desperate, he was being held in a cave, kept alive by a contraption made by a foreign doctor.

"Do you?"

"I don't know if I care, anymore," he said instantly. "But I want to know what _you_ think, in your well-traveled-wisdom and all."

"Yes, you have a good chance of winning against the Chitauri… but against _him_? _He_ is a different matter. You cannot win against someone who deals so closely with Death. I should think it better for me to keep my opinions to myself. We wouldn't want a panic amongst the others, would we?" Ash did speak honestly. The Avengers could destroy the entire host of Chitauri if they were smart enough, but they would have to stop there. They could not take down the Lord, and they would be foolish to try.

"And Pepper, do you think we can rescue her?"

The last time he felt this sleep deprived and desperate, he only had himself to worry about. His would-be terrorist captives could do no harm to anyone 'important' to him, besides _himself._ But now… now…

He could only hope to protect the one thing he could not live without.

"No," Ash replied, without an ounce of sympathy to show him, "I do not think Pepper can be rescued. She will have to be forgotten, if you wish to save the rest of your realm."

Tony clenched his jaw and looked down, he had already known her answer before she told him. She may have smiled to them, and helped them make their plan to save both Pepper and the whole of Asgard, but she was likely planning to leave them behind when it served her best. "I would ask you if you've ever loved someone, but I'm sure you have. What you've made painfully clear is that _you've_ never been loved back."

Her eyes narrowed, and cool smile appeared. "You don't know a single thing about me."

"You just don't understand what it's like to have someone trust you so completely and to have all of their faith put in you, that…. She's waiting for me. She knows that I will come for her. I can't handle the thought of her being alone, left to die in the hands of the Chitauri and the monster who claims to be controlling them." Tony stopped for a few minutes and they stood in silence before he finally looked back at her dull brown eyes. "I _don't know_ if I care what happens to this world if Pepper isn't in it."

"Well, Mr. Stark, I sell my services to the highest bidder."

Tony gave her a tired (perhaps slightly deranged) smile, glad to know that she understood him without asking. "Yes, that I _do_ know_._"

0000

"We saw Tony on the monitors while you were down below," Natasha said when Ash reappeared, carrying a box filled with spare mechanicals parts that they would need to get the portals activated. "Was there a problem?"

"Not at all," the other woman said, handing it over to Hawkeye, "he was apparently alerted to my movement, and he thought I was breaking in to steal from him. I explained what I was doing, and he even helped me find the pieces. I think he will sleep much better now, knowing the progress we are making."

Clint shook his head. "Good, you'd think for being such a self proclaimed super genius, he would know his breaking point. He just can't operate without sleep. He likes to think he isn't getting older, and that he can still keep up with his old habits. Stark likes to brag about he could go a week and a half without more than an hour's sleep a night when he would be working on a big project."

"Well, no harm done. How is everything coming?"

Thor and Steve were working on lifting and stabilizing a large archway that would be powered by the battery packs that they salvaged from the Chitauri wreckage. They were by a central source that was housed on one of the battle ships, and, as per Tony's design, they could be harnessed to create a walkway directly back to that source. Unfortunately, as much as he hated to admit it, he had help from both Ash and Loki, who had some extraterrestrial knowledge to provide to the mechanics of such a device.

"We should be able to give a test run by nightfall," Steve said, brushing his hands together to rid himself of some of the rubble-dust that had collected, "but I don't think anyone is going to be too thrilled to be turning it on until the morning. We want to be able to see everything clearly."

"I think that is also for the best," Ash agreed and put her hands on her hips. Her pants were baggy and held to her by a leather belt. Natasha's clothes were still too big on her petite form to fit her well. "What more can I do to help?"

"Right now, we're going to start the circle to take down the Asgard print," said Clint, "just the skeleton of it. The rest of it will have to be placed down at the site itself, and it can't be moved."

Between Thor and Loki, they had been able to find a particular spot in central park that had been marked by the Bi-frost. It had been made some time ago, and likely not from one of their journeys. But since they had already known that it was easier to travel from realm to realm from an area that had already been touched by the celestial power, they were in agreement that this location (marked by a curious pattern in stone,) would be the best to set up their other portal.

"Then I will just follow the instructions as they are listed," Ash said with a nod and knelt down to start screwing in part of the metal frame.

As of yet, they had not seen a single Chitauri. They couldn't explain why, but they had hypothesized that perhaps they had started focusing more of their energy on Asgard. Perhaps they were getting close to what they had wanted there. Regardless, they were thankful for the temporary halt in the fighting so that they could work faster. And as far as speed was concerned, they were also thankful to have two extra, useful sets of hands.

Besides their roles in the portal design, Loki and Ash had been extremely helpful in scouting shifts, allowing for the Avengers to get more rest when they needed it as well as finish up the portal design. Which was where Thor and Loki were, for the time being.

0000

"Why am I the one that has to carry these blasted energy packs?" Loki struggled to carry the three Chitauri batteries that he and his brother had found. Though they hadn't seen any Chitauri, they were still making the usual route, though it was mostly just to _find_ more energy sources to help power the portals that they were preparing to turn on.

"Because, brother, if something jumps out at us, I'm the one with the hammer," Thor replied with a shrug, as if it were the most obvious answer in the world. He casually strolled through the rubble of the city ahead of Loki, occasionally kicking cement blocks out of their path.

"But nothing _is_ going to jump out in front of us! Your special 'Avenger Sensors' would have picked them up already! You don't need to be doing _nothing_!" Loki snapped, annoyed at the fact that it seemed he was destined to only do grunt work for the group.

After he had helped the Hulk's alter ego figure out the secret behind the orbs, and explain how the crystal was used to tear the power away from a being, they didn't have much use for him. He was able to help for a bit in creating the portal design, but they didn't let him work too close to anything, in case he would try to sabotage their work. He thought the simple idea of that was stupid, since he _wanted_ to go back to Asgard. He disliked Earth more and more each day he was stuck on it.

"What, are they too _heavy_ for you, brother?" Thor joked, intentionally trying to instigate the former god. It worked and Loki shut his mouth, with a '_humph_.'

They walked along in silence, enjoying the sunshine and cloud shadows filling the broken city. They hadn't received rain in months, but this was the first time any clouds even dared make their way into the general direction of the city.

"If this all works out," Thor said finally, "if we save Asgard, I will speak to father. Perhaps he will be forgiving of you, and he will not send you away again. Perhaps he will find a way to restore your powers, if he sees it fit."

"Yes, well, that would be nice," Loki replied with a sigh, "but I do not think I will hope for it. Odin is not known to show kindness to his enemies. I may be a conquered enemy, but I think an enemy nonetheless."

Thor frowned, "do not say that brother. You have changed, just as I did when I became mortal. Odin—_father_, will surely see that. You are only an enemy so long as you believe it."

Loki did not respond.

It was adorable how much faith Thor had in him.

0000

_Additional Notes(two): one of the next chapters I post will not be on here. It will be on the tumblr I just made, most likely. It will be a chapter that gives a bit of background on Ash. As I said before, it won't be pertinent to the story, but for those who are interested, you will be welcome to read. I will try to write it at the same time as the next chapter, so that they can both be posted without a delay between the two of them._

_Yes, this chapter was inspired by the Iron Man 3 trailer. After seeing it, this was my view on Tony Stark._

_Thank you's all around to my lovely reviewers! You're truly wonderful!_

_Hope to update soon,_

_A.F_


	24. Chapter 24

_Libertas_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing._

_Additional Notes(1): I have only seen the movies and read a few comics. I am receiving information of substance from my resident expert, though he is not Beta reading for me (nor does he actually know I am writing this!) Please bare with me if my story breaks one or all of the existing universes._

_000_

"I'm telling you, I saw something move."

Steve had to fight the urge to let out a disgruntled sigh. Since Banner had retired for the night, Tony had felt the need to sit next to him in the monitoring room. Every so many minutes, he would sit up, zoom in on something that clearly wasn't there, and insist that he saw something moving outside.

The man hadn't slept in days. He was clearly losing it.

Not only that, but it seemed that the extra stress and lack of sleep was starting to take its toll on Tony's body. He was actually looking his age, if not a little older. Occasionally, when he started getting particularly worked up, the veins around his arteries looked much darker than they should have looked. Stark wouldn't let Bruce look at him, much less allow any of the S.H.I.E.L.D. medics attend to him. Natasha had told them that things were resembling the illness he had before he had created his next generation arc reactor.

"I'm going out there." Tony jumped up from his seat and started to activate his cuffs to have his suit meet him on the bottom floor, but did not get very far.

"No, no, you stay here," Steve sighed and grabbed the man by his shoulder. "You stay and watch the monitors. If something _is_ out there, you will be able to get everyone else up and active much faster than I can." It was a total lie; it wouldn't make any difference who was at the monitors, but he just couldn't trust Tony on his own.

For a brief moment, the billionaire looked at Steve suspiciously, as if he were trying to tell if he were lying. 'Normal Tony' wouldn't have had a problem seeing through it, and probably would've insisted on going, using some witty retort. Exhausted Tony just nodded and resumed his seated position, staring at the numerous computer screens.

Steve shook his head and went straight for the stairs.

""

"There isn't anything here," Steve groaned and kicked a cement chunk into the darkness. The base of stArk Tower was a mess of broken class and make shift barriers. The glass had been blown out long ago by one of the numerous attacks (which seemed like ages ago, what with their current peace.) Stadium flood lights had been brought in to help them keep their immediate vicinity illuminated at all times. They couldn't risk any Chitauri destroying their base of operations.

The Captain did a thorough walk around their perimeter, but there was nothing. All that he really found interesting was the fact that moths were swarming the lights. It was the first sign of life he had seen in the city for some time.

Just as he was about to give up and head back into the tower though, something unusual _did_ catch his eye. He had to block out the flood lights as best he could with his hands, but it was there.

The landing pad was flickering. Not with any of their intentional lighting, but something else. It was an electric blue color—the color of the Chitauri energy they were using to power their portal to the Chitauri ship. Someone was up there, activating their device.

Steve ran inside, diving into the elevator. When he tried to head to the top floor, however, he found that it would not move. It has been disengaged completely. "Stark!" He shouted Tony's name as a curse and maneuvered for the stairs. He wasn't entirely sure his body would hold up against all of the tower's stairs, but he would have to try.

"Everyone! Someone's activating the Chitauri portal!" He tried speaking into his communicator, but there was no response. A closer look at it showed that it, too, had been disengaged.

Why didn't he catch on immediately? How could he, Steve Rogers—Captain America, walk into a trap so easily? It was becoming clear that Tony had sent him out looking for a phantom, so that he would have the control room to himself, long enough to disengage all of the communicators and give himself enough time to activate the Chitauri portal. Surely, he was going after Pepper on his own.

By the time he finally reached the top of the tower, Steve was worn out. He didn't know how many steps he had to climb to get to this point. "Tony," he breathed out, "you can't do this. You're going to die if you go through there. They _will_ kill you on sight."

As he neared the balcony, he was surprised to see that it wasn't Stark standing at the opening of the energized gateway, but Pepper. "How…. You're back? But, Banner said that this would be a one way door… how could…?" Pepper watched him with a small smirk but he still noticed the small, glass sphere being slipped into the pocket of her tan trench coat. "Ash! No! The orb! You can't give it to them!" He raised his shield and prepared to throw it, but felt the cold metal of the Ironman hand-cannon at the back of his head before he could release.

"Let her go, Rogers," Tony said coolly.

"You won't do it," Steve replied seriously.

"If you really believed that, you would've already thrown your shield. Drop it." Tony was, of course, correct. There was no telling what the man would do in his current state. Steve released his shield, sending it clanging to the ground. "Good. Ash, it's at full power. Go now. I don't know how long it will stay charged."

The Pepper imposter nodded without a word and entered the electric blue light, disappearing instantly. When he was satisfied that she had made it through, Tony quickly removed the cannon from Steve's skull and unleashed it's blast at the control panel of the portal. "No one else can go through. It's up to her to save Pepper. She's the only one who can. She told me so."

"And you believed her?! She's the one who took Pepper away, Tony! It's her fault that Pepper is gone! And you just sent her through with the one thing that the Chitauri wanted from us! You might as well have put a bow on it! We have _nothing _to bargain with now! What are you going to do if—_when_—she doesn't come back with Pepper, huh?!" Steve couldn't recall a time he had been more furious with a teammate. Tony may have just lost them the war.

"Oh, there's something else they want," Tony said darkly, "but they'll have to come here to get it. And only if Pepper is safe."

""

Ash calmly walked down the length of the Chitauri corridors, a smirk still on her—er, Pepper's—face. The extraterrestrials made beastly noises at her as she passed, her heels clicking on the metal. Not one made an attempt to stop her. She wasn't sure if it was because they were afraid of 'Ash,' or because they knew not to touch Pepper.

"What nerve you have, showing your face here again," the Chitauri general spat. She shrugged, slipping her hands into her pockets.

"I have completed my mission. I returned after, just as I was instructed"

"You should have been dead by now. The worm should have devoured you weeks ago." He turned, his cape swirling behind him as he walked down the stairs to meet her on the lower platform.

The Pepper-imposter did not move. Her smirk didn't even waiver. "As it turns out, it takes a lot more than that to kill me." The general stood within feet of her, clearly trying to decide if he wanted to take his chances with her, and try to rip her head off. "I have arranged to have the one you want taken to the crystal—_if_ you can get the crystal to earth on your next attack."

"That does us no good, if we do not have the sphere required to capture his power—" before he finished, Ash raised the orb in her pocket to her eye level.

"As I said, I have completed my mission. I had to wait until they completed their portal before I could return. I had no way to contact you, since there have been no Chitauri attacks on Earth in some time. I would imagine you have been focusing your forces elsewhere."

The general stretched out a clawed, metallic hand to take the sphere, but she quickly pulled it away, causing him to growl angrily at her. "Now, this was just a good faith gesture. To get the second part, you will need to send the human girl back to earth. It's the only way to get what you want."

"And if we don't send her back?"

"If Tony Stark does not see two Pepper Pots walking through the portal together, unharmed, he will have the Asgardian sent home, where he will walk through the city barrier, and be absolutely, completely, one-hundred-percent out of your hands. You will lose Asgard, which will continue to remain in siege mode, until King Odin gathers enough strength to call for reinforcements. Those reinforcements will fight alongside of the rejuvenated Asgardian warriors, and together, they will anhillate all of the Chitauri," Ash explained and handed over the sphere. She turned and started to walk off the bridge, heading towards the room Pepper was being well-kept in.

"And you? Where do _you_ fall in all of this?" The general hissed at her back.

"Me? I will disappear into the abyss, and no Chitauri, Asgardian, or Human will ever see me again," she said simply, "this is not my war. I don't care who wins."

""

"You do realize that I can have JARVIS do basically anything I want him to, right? Keeping me here isn't going to do any good. I can keep the communications shut down for as long as I want." Tony sat with his arms behind his head, leaning back in his chair. They were holding him in one of the spare guest rooms, trying to keep him away from anything that could help him interfere with their plans to restore communication to S.H.I.E.L.D.

But then, the entire tower was designed to obey _him_, so it wasn't doing them much good.

On the other side of the building, they were questioning Loki.

"Brother, you best answer us best you can," Thor warned, causing the dark haired Asgardian to throw his hands into the air.

"What? What do you want from me? I am telling you, you knew her as well as I did. She was a prisoner in Tartanos. She was completely bound in her cell, and could not speak. It was speculated that she may have been the only person to come close to escaping, which indicates she has a great deal of power. She figured out my escape plan without me ever muttering a word about it, so she's quite smart. We all called her a shape-shifter, but she made mention of other abilities, perhaps meaning she is not a shape-shifter by nature."

"You were the last one seen with her," Natasha said, her arms across her chest. She was doing her best to read into Loki. So far, she could only tell that he was being rather honest.

"Yes, I was. And with quite a few drinks, I might add. I am not used to this frail, human body. I over drank, which is why you had such trouble rousing me. We had a conversation, I think about our heritage and what we would do when the war was over, but I cannot, for the life of me, remember the details. I may or may not have invited her to bed with me after we finished off a case of beer, and I may or may not have offended her in some way, but I think I recall her doing the silent, angry, woman. You know the one, brother, the one Lady Sif did after you made a crude joke about women around her."

Thor looked slightly taken aback before shrugging thoughtfully, "yes, I do think I know the walk you're talking about. It's kind of a stomp, or a march really—"

"That is completely unrelated," Natasha said loudly, in a flat sort of voice.

"Actually, I think she usually used the same tone of voice as that, except much more… Asgardian…" Loki added, and Thor nodded.

"Loki, I have been looking for a reason to hit you since you 'joined our side,' and you sure are giving me a great opportunity," she growled. Loki sighed and slouched.

"Tell me what more you want. I do not know what she has planned. I do not know if she is really trying to save Pepper. I do not know if she has been playing both sides, so to speak. I don't know what the Chitauri…" Loki's voice trailed off, and he gazed at Thor, though he didn't really 'see' him.

"What, what is it? Have you thought of something?"

Loki tapped the arm of his chair, deep in thought. "Well, I suppose it should be obvious what the Chitauri planned to do next. They're going to come for you, Thor. They don't really need _you,_ they just need your power. If they have the crystal on Earth, and they have the last obtainable sphere, they're going to try to take your power. It's all they need to get through the defenses of Asgard."

"Yes, of course… if the city is under siege, they would have activated the barrier. It can only be removed by father or myself. Surely if they put so much effort into stealing the crystal device, it was to get into Asgard after its sealing," Thor said and started to pace back and forth. "But then, that means that when they attack next—"

"You cannot be anywhere around. If they get to you, and they get you to the crystal, then Asgard has no hope," Loki finished, quietly.

If only he had his powers. If only he had the ability to fight the Chitauri… Loki was not an Odin-son. They could not use his powers to enter Asgard-in-siege. He could have helped hold them off. He could have destroyed the last sphere or the entire crystal. But now he was just a mortal. A mortal who had absolutely no use on a battlefield.

000

_Additional Notes(two): welp, my Loki and Lady Loki costumes have been completed and worn, so that's off my plate. The number of projects on my list has dropped drastically, so maybe I will see about actually finishing this sucker up. It's kinda sorta coming to an end? Maybe? Who knows…_

_Thank you to my readers who have stuck with me! I may post the 'interlude' sometime in the future. It will be what happened leading up to the events in this chapter. We'll see. _

_Please, if you're still with me, let me know! It was a few kind PMs that I received that kept me going on this! I thank you for that! _

_A_F_


	25. Chapter 25

_Libertas_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing._

_Additional Notes(1): I have only seen the movies and read a few comics. I am receiving information of substance from my resident expert, though he is not Beta reading for me (nor does he actually know I am writing this!) Please bare with me if my story breaks one or all of the existing universes._

_000_

Pepper was hardly in her right state of mind. How long had she been gone? Days? Weeks? _Months_? Time passed differently in… well in where ever she was. Space? It wasn't a planet, as far as she knew, but it felt much larger than any space ship imaginable. Perhaps it was more like a satellite.

She tried to retain as much as possible. After all, eventually she would be home. She would be the only human to have been abducted by the Chitauri invaders. She could write books and become famous by her own right, not just being "Tony Stark's Secretary."

Of course, she felt a little bitter. She probably wouldn't have been in this position, if she _weren't_ "Tony Stark's Secretary." There would have been no reason for them to come for her.

_This_ was why all of the fictional superheroes kept their identities a secret. Otherwise, their enemies would know their weaknesses, their vulnerable spots.

She sighed from her throne like chair. They had taken good care of her, all things considered. The Chitauri left her alone, except to bring her meals. Pepper refused to eat at first, at least until her hunger managed to get the best of her. Whatever they brought her, it was as close to earth food as they could get. No meat, just fleshy fruit of some sort. It was clear that they didn't eat it themselves, since some watched her intently when she ate, as if surprised that she would consume it when put in front of her.

There was just nothing to _do_.

She could only sleep so long before one of the guards came into her room/cell to make sure she was still alive. As far as that went, she supposed the she didn't blame them. Her deductive reasoning, or what was left of it, in her exhausted, hungry, depressed, hopeless state, told her that the only thing preserving her in the lack-of-atmosphere was the necklace she wore.

It was a metallic blue, not unlike the Chitauri themselves, with a sapphire-like gem in the middle. It pulsed slightly, spreading a warmth throughout her body. It was placed on her before she even left Earth by one of the invaders who met her and her double at a small portal. It was really the only explanation as to why she hadn't suffocated or frozen immediately.

It was that or the long purple robes she wore—robes that had draping sleeves and a high neckline. They seemed rather unremarkable though, besides being very finely made.

With an exhale, Pepper tapped the elegant chair and put her head back. Maybe if she could just close her eyes for a few moments…

No, no such luck.

After just a few moments, the door to her room was opening. She was not prepared for what she saw.

"You!?" She shrieked suddenly, seeing her double crossing the length of the room. Pepper jumped up and put the chair between herself and the doppelganger.

"Shhh! Yes! Me!" Ash shifted back into her own form and held her hands as a sign of non-aggression.

"You—you stay away from me!" Pepper cried, almost hysterically, "this is your fault! You took me! You brought me here!"

Ash rolled her eyes, allowing the other woman to vent for a few moments. Pepper continued to yell and cry until Ash changed her shape into a more familiar, friendly shape.

"You have to listen to me," Natasha's voice came from Ash, catching Pepper completely off guard. The human woman fell silent, unsure of what to do or say. Ash continued, "I've come to take you home. But you have to do exactly as I say."

Pepper nodded slowly, trying to catch her breath. Ash decided it was better to stay as Natasha to explain her plan, but ultimately, Tony Stark was still expecting two Peppers to walk through the Chitauri portal."

""

"He was willing to give me to those foul beings?" Thor asked in a ton of disgust. "Lore me into a trap? He is an egotistical, self centered, tiny, petty—"

"Oh please," Loki interrupted, "it was to save his woman. Of course he would. Most anyone would likely do the same thing."

Thor, who resumed heavy pacing, fumed. "Not I! I would fight them on my own and go rescue my lady on my own!"

"And then you would have died. You would have been overtaken. They would have ripped you to shreds. You may have slaughtered scores of them first, but they would have taken you. Your woman would be made to look over your dead body before she was killed herself. You know how battle works, _brother_. You know what some will do during warfare. I'm not saying I'm happy about it. I do not want to see Asgard leveled, to be completely honest…. I may want to rule it," he added with a small smirk, earning him a glare from the blonde man, "but I don't want to see it destroyed. All I'm saying is that I cannot blame him for resorting to such tactics when he found himself with no other option."

The more time he spent with these people, the Avengers, the more he found himself relating to them. It was disturbing. He couldn't really tell if it was because of him now being mortal, or if humans had always been so relatable to the Asgardians… But no, it _couldn't_ be that. After all, he had always heard so much about how they were such low, unintelligent creatures.

"Well then, what exactly do you propose we do? Walk right into their trap? Stark has sent that shapeshifter with a message to open their portal on the ground, near the Asgard gateway. I can do nothing but stay away! Argh!" Thor, in a fit of frustration, whipped around and lifted the heavy oak desk. It hit the wall, causing a chunk of the refined wood to splinter off and clatter to the ground.

Loki patiently waited until Thor was back to stomping around, muttering to himself. "Well, there's that, or, you could go through the Chitauri portal, if Banner can get it operating again. They can open a portal to Asgard from their ship. Once they send most of their forces through with the crystal prism and start an open battle in the city, they will not be expecting an internal attack. You could go in, smash a few skulls, and go through to home. If you can get through the city archway, then that's it. No more plan. They can't get to your power. You and the remaining warriors can focus on ranged attacks until the Chitauri are wiped out or retreat. That's what I would do."

Thor stopped his pacing and looked out the window. It was cloudy. It may even storm. But he couldn't be sure. "And you? What will you do, while I attempt to go home? Will you join me?"

Loki was silent before giving a sad smile. "I would love to… I can't though. I am mortal. I would die as soon as I left the Earth for the Chitauri station. I truly wish I could go fight and return to Asgard…"

Neither spoke for a few moments. There wasn't much to say. The former God-of-Mischief was having a hard time, wrestling with his emotions.

It wasn't so long ago that he had an absolute hatred for his adoptive brother. It also wasn't so long ago that he loved him, too. Loki couldn't remember the point where it took a turn, but he knew the exact moment when he felt like he wanted to _destroy_ Thor and everything he loved.

It wasn't when he fell from Asgard. It wasn't even when he was pulled apart into the Infinite, only to be reformed again. No….

It was the moment that the Spear of Destiny touched his hands and told him to go take Earth for himself.

The more time that went on, the less he cared about the attention Thor received. In fact, if things had worked out differently, he may have even wanted to join the Avengers. To bask in their glory. For Odin's sake if the _Hulk _had people who now loved him! His time with Darcy proved that he could have had the attention he craved. He could have used his intelligent mind and silver tongue to join Stark—he could have had a tower built in his name, too.

There was so much potential in this world that Loki had just ignored because it wasn't Asgard. But Asgard belonged to Odin, as it always would.

However, without his special abilities, Loki would never be happy in this realm. He would be doomed to die a life filled with regret. He was coming to realize that it was all because he still loved his adoptive brother and his home realm.

After all, the opposite of love isn't hate, it's indifference.

"I can operate the portal," Loki said finally. "As long as we keep the one open on our end, I should be able to communicate through to you, and tell you how to operate theirs. "

""

They barely had enough time to repair the control board to the Chitauri ship that Stark destroyed before the onslaught started. It was just as after dawn a few days after Ash had left. Down in the city, near the Asgard gateway they had been working on, there was a vortex sucking up dirt and rubble, and spewing Chitauri warriors.

Thor was not there, nor was Loki.

The others were hiding, near the agreed upon entryway, waiting to rescue the Peppers. It was their only option, since half of the group agreed Thor shouldn't be there, and the other thought it was better to rescue the innocent woman.

The invaders growled and hissed, creating a perimeter to guard before finally bringing the prism into their realm.

"So that's it, huh?" Hawkeye whispered over their communicators. There was no response, but he could see Natasha nod from her cover.

This was the first time they had seen so many Chitauri gathered in one place. They were swarmed in a curve, shouting and growling and jeering. "They don't see Thor," Tony said quickly, "they aren't going to send Pepper out. I'm going in."

"Stark, just wait a little bit longer. If they really aren't going to send her out, we will send the Hulk in first, then have you grab her," Rogers said, reassuring the antsy man.

'Lo and behold, they did send the Peppers out. Surrounded by Chitauri warriors, the two Peppers were holding hands as they slowly stepped for on earth again. When the Avengers stood, weapons drawn, the Pepper in the long purple robes with an ornate, glowing belt leaned over to the trench coated Pepper and muttered something.

The next thing they knew, they were running straight into the mass of Chitauri, those with their backs to the humans. Clearly, the invaders were not prepared for this, as confusion broke out. Some tried to grab the girls. However, when a caped Chitauri shouted something incomprehensible to the Earthlings, they all backed away quickly.

Trench coated Pepper used this opportunity to continue running, weaving in and out to head straight for the first Avenger she saw—the Hulk.

The other one, the one in the purple robe, dived straight into the largest group of Chitauri.

"What is she doing!?" Tony shouted and shot off, trying to get to her before she was torn to pieces. He didn't even have the opportunity.

There was an explosion.

A number of the invaders were taken out with it, some knocked back into each other. Tony halted in midair, his Ironman mask coming off as he was ready to be sick. He couldn't believe what he had just witnessed. _"PEPPPERRRR!"_

000

_Additional Notes(two): a few caveats… This chapter has been written for some time, simply not typed up. It was a bit longer, but I have chosen, for numerous reasons, to remove certain parts. They simply are not necessary at this time. I may go back and add them in at a later time, but not for a little while. They are not pertinent to the story; they were just for story and effect. _

_Thank you to those of you whom reviewed! I really appreciate it! They really do help me continue, whether you believe it or not! I need all of your encourage me!_

_A_F_


	26. Chapter 26

_Libertas_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing._

_Additional Notes(1): I have only seen the movies and read a few comics. I am receiving information of substance from my resident expert, though he is not Beta reading for me (nor does he actually know I am writing this!) Please bare with me if my story breaks one or all of the existing universes._

_000_

"_We don't have much time. Hurry and pull off your robes. We're going to switch outfits," the Nataska look alike instructed as she started to unbutton the expensive trench coat and heels she wore._

_Pepper paused for a moment, ready to start asking questions, but decided against it. She instead put her hands to her waist and unwrapped the Japanese ob-equse sash. Luckily for both of them, they both had relatively short dresses or slips beneath their outerwear, and switching just the jacket/robe would cover them._

_Finally, Ash morphed back into Pepper. They would easily fool the Chitauri, who were not know for their deductive reasoning skills. They would not notice that the one wearing the deep purple robes had brown eyes and no special necklace. "I don't understand," the real Pepper said, her brows furrowed, "why did we do that?"_

"_Stark and I have it worked out with one of the CHitauri generals. They need Thor to appear at the prism they stole from Tartanos, but unless the two of us walk out, Thor won't be there, on the battlefield… Do you really think they are going to let you go though? I have heard that Iron Man sent some sort of radioactive missile into their former colony, destroying a great deal of their numbers." Ash fluffed her collar, just to ensure that none thought to look for the protective necklace. _

_The echoing of footsteps came from down the hallway. Ash walked over to the throne-chair and sat, sliding down slightly. It was eerie for Pepper to watch. Within moments, the imposter looked exhausted, hopeless, and devoid of most emotion. "You are good," Pepper muttered dryly. With a shake of her head, she put a hand on her hip and tried her best to seem confident._

_The door slid open and two of the Chitauri guards entered, followed by one of the Chitauri generals. The caped creature nodded and the lowly soldiers walked forward, each taking one of Ash's arms. They hoisted her up as she struggled, but eventually gave in and allowed them to lead her out of the room._

"_The Asgardian better be there," the general growled._

"_I assure you, he will be," Pepper replied airily, with a slight smile. She could barely contain herself from shaking. She was shocked enough when the words came out of her mouth, and even more so whenher legs carried her out with a confident swagger. Doing her best to remain calm while feeling the weight of the pendant on her chest, all Pepper could think was, 'thank god I still have this damned thing…'_

_The group waited on the bridge for who knows how long. The Chitauri were lining up in formation and readying the movement of the giant crystal Pepper had seen only once before. A cry rattled through the large room why then were ready for the on coming battle, chilling her to the bone._

_But she was going home. She was going to set foot on the Earth again, and Tony was going to be there to save her. Any foul thoughts she had about him disappeared when Pepper imagine him greeting her, putting his suited arm around her waist and shooting off into the air to take her __**home**_**.**

_Just as her imposter had predicted, however, things didn't seem like they would be that easy. "We will have our revenge on that metallic man," the general said lowly, a twisted smile on his face. He carried an ornate belt in his claws. It had gem like stones mounted on silver plats, all connecting one to another. He passed it off to one of the other soldiers, who proceeded to kneel down and wrap it tightly around the purple robed Pepper's midsection._

_When the soldiers moved to surround the two of them, Pepper extended her hand to Ash, who took it. The two of them stood closely, preparing for the portal to open._

""

Thor heard Tony shout over their communicators. He was just about to cross through, as Loki had planned to try to make his way to Asgard. He couldn't go. "Something has happened! It seems that Pepper may be injured… or worse."

"Let them handle it," Loki yelled over the loud hum of the electricity being used to power the portal. It was a great deal more than had previously been required because it could not be efficiently rebuilt in such a short period of time. "This may be your only chance! You won't make it home otherwise!"

The dark haired man was at the control panel, trying his best to hold it steady. He was able to navigate through the controls necessary to connect the gateway to the Chitauri satellite, but it likely wasn't going to last too long. Thor took a hard look at the buzzing portal before taking a step back and shaking his head. "I cannot go. If Jane were in trouble, I would want my team to have my back. I cannot leave in good conscious. Shut it down."

Loki simply looked at his adoptive brother in bewilderment. How could he give up on going back to Asgard, to protect their home, for the Avengers? "Don't you _care_ if our home is destroyed? If the Chitauri get you, they will take your power and break through Odin's Barrier. If you go into that battle right now, you are handing them the key to destruction. Are you really so enamored with this realm that you would sacrifice our own form them?"

"It's the right thing to do, brother," Thor replied, "I thought perhaps you would have realized that on your own by now." Without another word, he spun his hammer and shot up into the air, heading straight for the danger zone.

It left just Loki to stare at the portal and contemplate going through. It was seriously tempting to try to go through, but asal, he knew he would die as soon as he crossed over.

"Damn this mortal body," he hissed and threw the control panel angrily to the side. It crashed to the ground, shutting the gateway for good.

What could he do? What could _he_ possibly do? Loki collapsed to the ground, putting his hands to his head, trying to come up with something that would make him useful. He couldn't sit back and do nothing while Thor let Asgard essentially burn.

Lips pursed, Loki looked through the open door, into the former meeting room of stArk tower. They had kept their stockpile of Chitauri weapons there to use as power sources. It included one of the hovercrafts and a still working spear.

""

Thankfully for Pepper, the Hulk seemed to recognize her as jumped behind her as she ran, punching and tossing the invaders who went after her. She kept running and didn't stop.

She couldn't stop.

Pepper was sobbing in joy, terror, and disbelief. Her imposter had judged correctly. The Chitauri were not prepared to let her go, despite whatever arrangement Tony had made to get her back. If her imposter, a woman Pepper never even knew the name of, hadn't switched places with her…

She had just managed to get out of the immediate battle zone before she tripped over some of the rubble and hit the ground hard, tearing open her knees, palms and chin. It wasn't even worth it to move, Pepper decided. She would just stay there and cry until the Avengers destroyed the disgusting creatures, and then she would go back to them.

So that's what she did. Until she was interrupted.

"Why are you on the ground?" A voice came from above her, causing her to look up. It took her a moment to register who was in front of her, but she scrambled to her feet when she saw him.

"You're—you're Loki! Stay away from me! TONY! NATASHA! SOMEONE!" Pepper started screaming, hoping someone would hear her. Of course, no one did. No one could.

Loki waited for her to stop, wincing at her screaming. "You're the Pepper Potts I've heard so much about, I assume. I thought you might be Ash. She probably wouldn't have been lying on the pavement crying though, so I should have known better, I suppose. Thor seemed to think you were injured That hardly seems to be the case, besides a few scratches…"

Pepper stopped shouting, but continued to back up, looking at him in confusion. "I… why are you wearing Tony's clothes? I—I bought him that shirt…"

"Yes, he has so graciously loaned it to me—of I should say, Natasha did. I have switched sides. Now, again, _why_ did they seem to think you were injured? I can't waste much time here, my brother is surely about to make some poor decisions…" Loki looked over her head to the next block over, where explosions were sounding. He needed to get over there, and quickly.

"No, not me.. the other me. The one who can change what she looks like. I think…. I think she's dead… it was supposed to be me!" Pepper could not help but resume her crying.

Loki watched her in some sort of disbelief and disgust, "Ash? She's _dead_? I didn't think she could… wait a moment… _they _don't know it's her! They think it is you who is dead!" Without waiting another moment, Loki ran back to the hovercraft and jumped on. "Get to safety! Go back to the tower, wait for them there! If you stay here, it's only a matter of time before one of the Chitauri soldiers gets loose and finds you!"

He took off into the air, expertly zipping through the street ways and preparing himself to emerge in the chaos.

It was a different feeling, knowing he was completely vulnerable. He had no armor, and one hit could/probably would kill him. "I suppose I will just have to be very careful," Loki muttered to himself.

Well, he was definitely correct about the chaos.

The aliens were screeching and shooting, and the Avengers were punching and smashing. When his eyes landed on the large prism in the middle of the block, a horrible taste flooded his mouth. It was metallic and slightly sandy, oddly enough.

Thor was on the edge of the group, smacking away with his hammer. Again, he couldn't use his lightning power, since it only charged the Chitauri weapons. Loki rushed over and joined the fight.

"I saw Pepper!" He shouted and stabbed through one of the invaders. He pulled the energy weapon out of the body and swung it around, catching another one in its mouth. Loki forced it through, killing the creature. "She's fine! Heading back to the base! Ash is dead!"

"I don't follow you, brother!" Thor replied, smashing Mjolnir into a Chitauri stomach, sending it flying across the way. "They said that Pepper… may have exploded!"

"No, it was Ash! She was the one who must have exploded! The real one is _fine_! It was her—she had blue eyes! Ash cannot change her eye color! They're always brown! You must leave, Thor! Go stay with the woman, I beg of you!" Loki continued his onslaught, trying his best to keep the other Asgardian from moving any closer than he needed to be. He didn't know the range of the crystal prism, but he wasn't willing ot let Thor test fate.

"No, someone must tell Stark to leave the body then! He is going to fight his way into the horde to retrieve who he thinks is Pepper!" Thor tried to start storming forward, but Loki jumped in his way.

"You _cannot._ Have one of the others do it," Loki snapped sharply, gripping the weapon trightly. The two fo them momentarily stared down, but Thor shook his head, appearing humored.

"Oh, this is so much like old times… there is nothing you can do to me now, _brother_. I could kill you with one hit, where is the fun in that? I admire your drive to protect Asgard, but not at the cost of other people. Watch behind you." Thor nodded to Loki, who whipped around with just enough time to fend off an attack. In that time, the God of Thunder wound up and flew into the air to join Tony's fight.

It took only a moment, but the militaristic Chitauri immediately fell into a new formation upon seeing Thor jump within yards of the prim.

"Stark! Pepper is alive! You must go to her, she is—"

Thor did not get to finish his sentence. One of the Chitauri ran forward and dived on Tony, then another, and another, and soon, there was a pile of them trying to keep him down. Another two came up behind Thor, trying their best to hold him still. When he struggled and threw one of them off of himself, more came up and stabbed him in the side then his right thigh.

Loki watched in anger and tried to move closer, but the invaders would not allow him. They continued fighting, overwhelming him. "No!"

After a moment, the rest moved to put their plan into action. Most immediately stopped their battling to throw what appeared to be flash grenades in the same vicinity. It was on the side of the crystal exactly opposite of Thor. Then, they dropped to the ground, bringing down as many of the Avengers as they could.

It only took a moment, but Loki recognized the sound of agony coming from Thor. It was the exact same noise he had made when he was hit by the beam of light on the Chitauri colony. They held him in place until a shadow o the god's self appeared and was pulled into the crystal.

They got what they wanted.

The soldiers abandoned the fight instantly, some going to start dragging their magical device back into the portal, the rest readying the way for the crystal. Hulk continued trying to fight, but the sheer number of enemies in the swarm was too many. Most of them made their way back to the portal and shut it, leaving those who didn't make it in to die.

They didn't bother with Thor. They left hum on the ground, bleeding, with a hammer he could no longer lift.

000

_Additional Notes(two): soooo… who saw the new Thor trailer? I saw it and thought! Wow! It's like an alternate telling of this story! Loki is in a prison and he helps the good guys, and Asgard is under siege! Seriously though, go watch it if you haven't. It looks really good. On a side note, I have my Ironman tickets for a 9 pm showing on the 2__nd__, so I'm sure I will be back to regular updating with the release of that movie and all. _

_I wanted to thank my reviewers, I love you dearly. Especially you certain ones who make it a point to always leave at least a comment of some sort! I really do appreciate it!_

_Hopefully updating again soon! R/R!_

_A.F_


	27. Chapter 27

_Libertas_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing._

_Additional Notes(1): I have only seen the movies and read a few comics. I am receiving information of substance from my resident expert, though he is not Beta reading for me (nor does he actually know I am writing this!) Please bare with me if my story breaks one or all of the existing universes._

_000_

After the Chitauri had left, the group remained in the aftermath in silence. Well, all but Tony, who was still digging through the rubble, looking for Pepper. He frantically threw cement blocks from side to side, taking bits of alien remnants as well. Loki stood, jaw clenched, staring at the ground.

Asgard would fall. Thor practically handed the disgusting creatures the key to the front door. There wasn't a damned thing Loki could do about it either.

"She's _not there_," he finally shouted in annoyance to Stark. "Your woman—Pepper—she's on her way to the tower as we speak. I saw her not twenty minutes ago."

Tony stopped his search and turned around abruptly. "What kind of sick joke is that?" He sneered and flexed his fingers, ready to unleash a very powerful, long awaited blast at the mortal-god's head. "I watched her… she's…"

"_She's on her way back to the tower,_" Loki repeated. "Whatever happened here to the Pepper you saw, it was not the true Pepper. It was Ash. The woman I saw had blue eyes. She shapeshifter cannot change her eye color."

He didn't make any motion to attack, or even move at all. Instead, Tony simply narrowed his eyes, clearly trying to decide if there was even a remote chance that Loki, the renowned God of mischief, could at all be telling the truth.

Loki threw the Chitauri weapon he had been using as his own, letting it hit the ground with a clang before turning away. "Fine. Do not listen. Do whatever your mechanical little heart desires. I am going to try to figure out how to save a realm whose protector has all but abandoned it." With one final icy glare at his adoptive brother, he threaded his fingers together and put them atop his head.

000

"What do you mean, you aren't going to help?" Steve asked in complete disbelief. "Thor sacrifieced his power to try to save you from the horde, and you're just going to say you're done?"

Tony finished fathering his things and shrugged. "I'll help you get the portal to Asgard up and running. But year, I'm done. Pepper is back safely. I'm not putting our future on the line for another world. This is all Loki's problem. He can thank his high and glorious self for the Chitauri problem."

"But if Asgard is destroyed, it will be much more than one realm in danger," a sore and weak Thor quickly replied, "it could mean the destruction of _all_ realms. We cannot be sure what the Chitauri leader wants, exactly."

"I'm done," Tony said and slammed down his portfolio onto the meeting room table, "if you recall, I was pretty much willing to hand you over to the Chitauri to save the one person I can't live without. So that's it. I'm out. I'm spending time with pepper, who, by the way, is on the verge of a mental breakdown after being held captive by freaking aliens, all because of a sphere brought her by _Loki_. Do what you want. I know I am."

He exited, and they were left to plan on their own.

"Awesome," Natasha finally said and sat in a vacant chair, "Stark has clearly lost it and Thor can't use his hammer, so we've lost our fire power. Ash is presumably dead, and she was both good for stealth and heavy hitting. Loki hasn't come back, and…. Well I don't know how much good he would have been anyhow, not being a god and all, but he would have been able to give us more insight and another body, at the very least.

Thor wiped his hands down his face and groaned. "I admit, I am surprised he left as he did. I did not believe he still cared for Asgard as deeply as he may have in the past. His motives are… beyond me."

"Of course they are beyond you," Loki's voice said from the hallways leading into the meeting room. He appeared moments later, from the direction of the stairwell. "You are blunt instrument of war who is inheriting the greatest kingdom in existence. You will never understand my point of view… Those stairs are falling apart, did you know that? I would have been here sooner, but someone has disabled the elevator. Didn't think I would return at all, did you? Sorry to disappoint." He approached the able, pulled out a chair and dropped into it. His head went back against the cushioned headrest as he let the chair just sort of… swivel around.

"Tony doesn't want to go to Asgard," Natasha said quickly, hoping to get information out of Loki while he was in a talkative mood.

His brows went up and he nodded thoughtfully, "good. That makes my plan much more manageable. Having his zipping around his mechanical suit would have caused some problems. He can operate from the Earth side of the portal. So who _is_ trying to save the universe?"

The group looked at one another before Steve finally spoke up, "well, that would be the rest of us. Stark is the only one who has decided he won't find any longer. For the rest of us, we don't have anyone else to concern ourselves with. Fighting for earth is all we have."

"Good to hear," Loki replied with a smile. He may have been trying to appear friendly, but it, instead, twisted into something disgruntling. "Because, I think, Earth might be the only hope in all the realms, right now. Banner, how far can your large counter park throw and do you think he will be able to follow some basic directions, if we give them to you?"

Bruce raised his shoulders and shook his head, "he can throw pretty far, but I don't even know what he's going to do. While we were out west, Steve had been able to almost train him just enough to make him useful against the Chitauri, but that doesn't mean he will listen again."

"It's better than mothering, I suppose. What about S.H.I.E.L.D. Ms Romanoff? Would we be able to get any quick aid from them? We may need some very specific weaponry."

"It may be possible. We haven't exactly been telling them everything that is going on, however. They don't know about your involvement, for example. They don't know anything about Ash, we never told them about her," she said and leaned forward with interest.

Barton, on the other hand, leaned back and sighed loudly. "What are you planning, Loki? I'm sure you're aware, but we're kind of on a time crunch here."

"It's _my_ home; of course I am aware," Loki replied dryly, "I am just gauging the feasibility of this plan. I put it together in a matter of New York blocks. The Chitauri seem to be extremely reliant on some sort of… Bio-electric communications to their satellite base. If we could get that cut off, however temporarily, it may give us an advantage. We could find the solider who has Thor's powers, at that time, and kill him or capture him or whatever we should desire. Take that one Chitauri out of the picture, Asgard is safe, and thus, the realms. We can kill the rest at no threat to the Asgardians."

Bruce gave an understanding smirk and a nod, "so you just plan on sending out electromagnetic pulses onto the battlefield. That's why you said it would be better without Tony there. It would surely effect his suit, and possibly the arc reactor that keeps him alive. If he stays on this end of the portal, a one way portal, he could feed us more bombs without being at risk himself. We just wouldn't be able to use any of the S.H.I.E.L.D. jets or the Chitauri hovercraft. So, to drop them, you would need the Other Guy to be able to toss them instead."

"Seems very straight forward, doesn't it?" Loki resumed his swiveling, internally chuckling at the lost expression on his brother's face. Oh Thor. Ever the scholar. "Of course, that all relies on our ability to get those very specific weapons. It seems like something humans would have, yes? With a world so reliant on electricity, I would expect it is almost standard issue in warfare."

Natasha and Barton glanced at each other and shrugged. They had used similar, small scale devices for quick blackouts and diversions.

"Well then, I will leave that to you," Loki finished before standing up to leave. As he exited to go to his room, he could hear the woman start speaking again.

"Hello, Director Fury? How many engineers do we still have at our disposal?"

000

"I'm not speaking to you."

"Isn't that a bit childish, brother?" Thor asked as he leaned against the doorframe to the bathroom that was adjacent to their shared bedroom.

"No, it isn't. I am trying my best to put my whole, Void-torn heart into something good. That's very hard to do when I see your annoying blonde face, and all I want to do is throttle you," he said and stood up right. He was finally allowed to have scissors to cut off a good chunk of his long, black man.

"I've always known that there was still good in you," Thor said proudly.

Loki slammed the metal tool down, scratching it against the marble counter unforgivably. He turned and stared at Thor for a few moments with a certain dark intensity before shaking his head and speaking. "There _wasn't_ always good in me," he said coolly, "there was _nothing_ in me for a very long time. After I fell in the abyss, I was completely pulled apart. I was only put back together, and roughly at that, after he—the Chitauri leader we now fight against—found me. I completely forgot myself while he used me to do his bidding. He molded me to what suited his best. It wasn't difficult, since I was but a shell after… becoming part of the Nothingness. As I started to remember, to think for myself again, he gave me the scepter so that I might continue to submit. He used it to bring out my strongest, darkest desires. Desires to rule and conquer, to be better than _you._"

"That was just the scepter—"

"No," Loki laughed, "not, it wasn't. Those were things I have _always_ wanted. Things I have dreamed about all my life. He just took away all other thoughts that could prevent me from reaching those desires." He faced the mirror again and started to clean up his mess, careful not to look at his own reflection. "It wasn't until I was on earth again, after losing everything I was for yet another time, that my mind finally began to clear. I started remembering that not only did I want to rule, I wanted those I ruled to _love_ me as their king. I wanted people to remember me as a strong and powerful hero. That was why I set up the entire scheme with the frost giants after all, I wanted people to willingly worship me for saving their beloved All-Father, and the realm itself."

Thor looked down momentarily and stepped away so that the other man could walk into the bedroom. "You were willing to wipe out an entire race to do so. Did you think then, before the void, before the scepter, that people could really love you after doing something so dishonorable?"

"Don't sound so condescending," Loki snapped, "you were willing to do it too, and you were just as angry when Odin cast you out for it. I had different reasons for wanting them gone. If there were no Jotunns, then Odin couldn't ultimately send me back to them, plain and simple. I did not want their life, not after I had been raised as an Asgardian. Odin told me himself that the only reason he had kept me, raised me, was so that I could help smooth over tensions with the Jotunheim. How would you react after hearing the man, whom you thought your father, tell you that you were actually just part of a political plan, hm? That's it, that's everything. I have nothing left to say to you. Now if we die, I will be satisfied knowing that somewhere, deep down, you will feel guilty for being part of the reason I turned out as I did."

Luckily, Thor did not respond as Loki left the room for good. He did not anticipate going back to stArk tower at all, much less to that large bedroom.

As he walked down the hallway, he noticed for the first time that was shaking. It wasn't out of fear, or even anger. There had just been so much tension built up and held in that he simply reacted physically when he _finally_ let it all go.

Loki accepted that he would probably never have his power back. He would never be considered a god again. Going into battle as a mortal to defend Asgard meant that by the time the dust cleared, he would probably be dead. In fact, he expected only Banner to leave the field of his own accord.

In the end, he hoped that someone, somewhere, would eventually write that the mastermind behind the battle to save the nine realms was the wayward Asgardian prince.

000

_Author's Notes (2): Sorry I have been gone so long! I actually took a break and was READING fanfiction. I haven't done that for a long while, probably since I was still in college… Anyhow, I'm hoping that I can get back into the swing of things and update once more!_

_R/R, thank you as always!_


	28. Chapter 28

_Libertas_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing._

_Additional Notes(1): I have only seen the movies and read a few comics. I am receiving information of substance from my resident expert, though he is not Beta reading for me (nor does he actually know I am writing this!) Please bare with me if my story breaks one or all of the existing universes._

_000_

"What is it that they scheme?" Lady Sif questioned, her jaw clenched tensely. "Their movements are most peculiar."

"Indeed," Queen Frigga muttered. Her eyes were focused solely on the large crystal the Chitauri were carefully dropping in the distance. The two women stood atop the Palace's highest tower, watching as they had done many times before in the past few days.

Her husband had unwillingly entered Odinsleep. Sealing the vault had cost him too much, and he could hold off the inevitable cycle. They could only hope that he would awaken in time if he were needed. Until then, he slept in guarded safety while his trusted ravens watched over the realm and acted as his sight.

"If I may inquire, Lady Frigga, do you… know what that device might be?" Sif asked, trying her best to study the other woman without appearing disrespectful.

Frigga did not speak for a few moments. Finally, she clutched the marble railing tightly and said, "I have my suspicions. If I am correct, I do not know if I should be devastated or betrayed."

"My Queen?"

"It has been many centuries since I have seen the likes of that crystal. It was likely devised by an ancient race from a far off realm. At some point, there had been a handful of crystals, each with its own nature. Some could be used for knowledge, to see into other places and times. More often, though, they were used as weapons. They could be used to steal a being's life energy or switch one's mind into another's body, depending on which crystal was used. The race that created such powerful devices was sought after by others; separated and enslaved in hopes that more of the weapons could be made. As far as I know, most originals were destroyed and few replicas ever worked… I know of but one that has still been preserved and used…" She frowned and looked down to the side, at nothing in particular. "I surely hope my dear husband and I made the correct choice in sealing the vault…"

Sif finally turned to face Frigga completely. "Where was the one you knew of, my Queen?"

"Tartaros," she replied dryly, "if you recall being sent to my son, you offered him his freedom in exchange for willingly stripping himself of his abilities. My husband is the only being who has the power to do such a thing on his own, but it takes a great deal of energy, as you saw after Thor's initial exile. Tartaros does not have a being who can do the same, but they _do_ have a certain, ancient prism. Though I believe I should say, they _did_ have one."

"Loki," Lady Sif hissed and smacked her hands down on the railing in frustration. "Of course, he simply must be at the center of this. He certainly cannot help himself, he is set on creating chaos to better himself."

"I remind you, Lady Sif, he is still my son, and I will always see him as such even if my husband has taken his name from him." Lady Frigga said, her voice even but with a distinct sharpness to it. The warrior maiden nodded and bowed slightly.

"Of course my Queen, I did not mean you any disrespect. I simply worry…"

"I know you do," the queen sighed, "and I can only hope that there is another explanation, for the crystal's presence here can only mean bad signs for Loki's well-being."

000

"_So, you're the mastermind behind this plan, huh? I admit, I was more than a little surprised when Rogers said that you were actually 'helping.'" _ Director Fury was on the holographic screen, speaking to Loki, who had Hawkeye and Natasha behind him.

"And judging by your tone, you surely don't believe that it has been a good thing. Well, that's alright. I cannot say that I blame you, all things considered." Loki wanted to smile and assure the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent that he was just a good nature consultant, but the smile turned quickly into a wicked smirk.

"_Yeah. All things considered. Just so you know, at the first sign of betrayal, I have directed all of my operatives to aim for your head. Shouldn't be a problem, since you're all fleshy now."_

The Asgardian shrugged, "seems reasonable enough. I will be aiming for theirs if they turn on me as well."

"_Right…_ _So now that all that's out of the way, you've asked for a favor for all of you 'help.' Beyond the expensive weapons we're sending to aid you, at no charge."_

"Well, to be fair, those are really to aid your realm as well. If the Chitauri reach the tesseract or whatever else they may be after, you can likely expect them to return to take revenge on those who defeated them in battle. You don't want that now, do you?" Of course, Loki probably should have tried to be a bit more persuasive, appealing to Fury in a more pleasant way, but they were on a tight schedule, and he head to get moving.

"_And whose fault is that, I wonder?"_

"Beyond that," Loki sighed loudly, "I'm really only trying to do the right thing now. You see? I am _changing_." He shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels while leaving forward a bit.

"_Uh-huh. Well, you can thank your brother, or whatever he is to you now. It was really his testimony with Jane Foster's that got this matter resolved. You did very little."_

"I will be sure to give him my fullest gratitude. Now, may I speak with her?"

Fury stared at him for a long while before finally uncrossing his arms and waving to someone off screen. _"Before I go… While I will wish you all good luck in saving Asgard, you'll understand if I won't pray for __**your**__ safe return. Barton, Romanoff, I expect a full report as soon as you set foot in the realm again." _He nodded to the two Avengers behind him and then walked away. The holographic screen remained running while there was shuffling in the background.

Loki took the moment to turn to the two onlookers, "if I could have a moment alone, please—I'm sure this is all being recorded, and you can watch it later. However, I do not feel I can possibly offer my thorough apologies with your eyes staring hole in my back."

Barton was about to object, but Natasha put her arm on his shoulder. "Come on Clint, we should finish packing up our ammunition anyhow. We have to leave soon."

As the pair left, one of them grumbling loudly, another figure emerged on the screen in front of Loki.

She looked disheveled, sickly pale, and extremely tired. When she saw him, her angry tension was visible in her face. She did not say a word to him.

"Ah, Darcy, you look…. Well, I would like to say 'well' but that doesn't seem to be the—"

"_You know,"_ she said suddenly, cutting him off, _"I've spent the past few weeks trying to figure out what I would say to you if I ever had the chance. I've only come up with one thing—you're a real dick."_

Loki looked at her thoughtfully, "I do not think we have that sort of phrase where I am from. From the way you have spoken it, though, I think I understand its meeting. I think have been called similar things before."

"_I took care of you! You would have died if I didn't stop and pick you up!"_ She started shouting at him, ignoring what he said anyhow. _"I spent a lot of money helping you too! And what do I get for my good deeds? I get locked up in some cell, being interrogated by the Men in Black, missed my chance at grad school interviews for the year, and finally got on tv in the worst way possible! Taken out in handcuffs by a SWAT team!"_

Cocking his head to the side, Loki furrowed his brows, "I really thought you would have first been angry at me holding you at knife point and using you as a hostage…"

"_Yeah, that too! You are such a dick!"_

"Well, I think this should have been a good learning experience for you. As much as I truly appreciate all of your help in keeping me alive, you should not go around picking up strange men in the desert. It's just not safe—"

"_Thor, you know, your __**brother**__, he certainly didn't cause any problems!"_ She said, adding after a moment, _"…nothing long term at least…"_

"Yes, well, I'm not my brother," Loki snapped, becoming quickly annoyed by the woman. "Moving on, I simply wanted to see that you were alive and well, so that I could apologize for using you as I did. You seem to have a good heart, something I am clearly unfamiliar with, and I owe you a great debt. This is my official apology to you—and you haven't the faintest idea how hard it was for me to even bring myself to actually _do_ this. Be as furious and resentful to me as you see fit. It matters not. Director Fury will be releasing you and compensating you for your troubles. I wish a good life and prosperous life upon you. Now I will take my leave, as I care not to listen to your petty insults before battle."

Darcy narrowed her eyes at him and crossed her arms, looking at him intently. _"You don't plan on coming back, do you? You wanted to say your last goodbyes. Except you __**have**__ no one to say goodbye to. You live a pretty sad life, you know, if the only person you had to say something to was a girl you lied to, took advantage of, and left to take the fall for your sorry ass. You're a pathetic excuse for a man, human or not! Ugh, I hope I never have to see your __**smug face**__ ever again!" _It was obvious that her anger was just going to continue to rise. She caught the attention of someone who was probably watching over her, and they led her away, while she continued to shout furious, undistinguishable things at no one in particular.

It just left Loki staring at the blank screen.

"Well that could have gone better," Loki muttered and rolled his eyes. For all his gifts in prose, 'I'm Sorry' was simply not there.

No, that wasn't true. He could craft a pretty believable apology when he wanted to do so, but it was usually only when he really didn't mean it. Now that he did feel at least a bit sorry and responsible for her misfortune (which he didn't necessarily take any enjoyment out of, since she had truly saved him,) the words just… didn't come. Perhaps because, somewhere in his subconscious mind, 'I'm Sorry' was simply tied too closely to dishonesty.

He didn't take her words to heart, not really. He had fully expected her to be livid with him. He was prepared for it. She wouldn't break his resolve to do what needed to be done, just because may or may not have caused him to doubt himself, somewhere deep down.

"Time to leave this forsaken realm," Loki said with a sigh and turned to leave the room. He could leave the holographic screen running. Stark would surely be along to handle shutting it down at some point.

It was off to war he went.

It would be an odd feeling, fighting next to the Avengers, and most importantly, his brother. Sure they had their like skirmishes in the city, fighting off a few of the Chitauri attacks, but it wouldn't be the same.

Tony had been kind enough to give both he and Thor a sort of armor to wear. It was just a few pieces that he created to help protect their vital bits, since they would be the ones plunging into the forces. That was how they were trained to fight after all. Even if Loki would have usually avoided it, he wouldn't have a chance, not with all of his magic gone. He would have to go back to the very basics, fighting styles he had been taught when he was a boy.

He knew he did not excel in hand to hand combat like Thor did, but they were both at a disadvantage, since Thor could no longer wield Mjolnir. He could only hope that the electromagnetic pulse-bombs would serve their purpose well and take down most of the Chitauri that would be in their pathway to Asgard.

Ultimately, Loki was probably rather lucky that Thor had such eager and strong (for being mortal) allies. It was probably only going to be time before the Chitauri's leader turned on Loki and took his army back, or forced him to turn on Asgard. He was foolish to have ever thought he could control the hive-minded creatures, knowing that they had a leader that terrified even himself. He should have always known that his home would like become his enemy.

Then again, as was becoming blatantly clear every day, he probably never would have teamed up with the Chitauri and their leader if he had been in the right mind.

He would have recognized that he was being used, just as a pawn in an intergalactic game of chess.

And if there was one thing that Loki didn't like, it was being used.

000

_Author's Notes (two): greetings again, everyone! So soon! How strange of me, as of late! Anyhow, as someone pointed out, there were a lot of typos in that last chapter. I sincerely apologize for that. I was reading off of another piece of paper when I was typing, and I thought I caught most of them. Clearly I didn't. I am infamous for __**not**__ reading my stuff after I type it. I just spell check it and… yeah…_

_I will try to keep that from happening again! _

_I think I finally have an ending in mind, and it is very different from where I originally thought this would go. I may set this up for a sequel, but not necessarily. I could instead do what I usually do. If that is the case: poor, poor main characters. None of you are safe. _

_We will see…_

_If you are still with me, I always appreciate reviews! It's how I know I should stick this out and finish it! I hope everyone isn't too Avengers-ed out yet! The movie has been out for over a year now!_

_Thank you everyone!_


End file.
